


Seeing in the Dark

by Maiika



Category: Naruto
Genre: Akatsuki Hatake Kakashi, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Hatake Kakashi-centric, No Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2019-10-17 18:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 41,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17565827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maiika/pseuds/Maiika
Summary: Kakashi never imagined he'd find himself part of an organization of S-class criminals, with a chance to change the world, reunited with an old friend he'd thought long buried, who he may have preferred that way rather than finding what he'd become.But reality in the ninja world was hell.  He needed to change it, whatever the cost.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been writing fanfiction for a while now, but this is the first story I'm posting for this fandom. I recently binged Naruto from beginning to end and loved it so much I had to write something. I'd usually write for a ship, but the idea of Kakashi going rogue and joining the Akatsuki wouldn't leave my mind, so I had to do it. No romance at all in this one, but lots of exploration of the relationship between Obito and Kakashi, which turns out to be pretty angsty, in spite of me originally thinking it would go a different way. 
> 
> This mostly follows canon events, but with outcomes affected by Kakashi being on the other side. As you can imagine, changes become more drastic the closer the story comes to the end (and there are some events skimmed over or omitted to keep the focus on the Akatsuki)

Between nightmares of his name whispered on Rin’s blood-soaked tongue, Obito’s pleading sharingan, and his father’s bloody corpse on the floor, Kakashi’s nights were never restful.  He couldn’t say his days were much better. Everything around him was coated in darkness. It was hard to remember this world had once seemed bright.

 

Somehow, he’d endured his painful existence for a short time holding onto a fraction of hope for better things to come, but that hope dwindled away with the addition of Minato-Sensei’s untimely death.  The one remaining ray of light in Kakashi’s life was finally swallowed up in the shadows. Now  _ he _ plagued Kakashi’s slumber along with them, though Kakashi hadn’t even witnessed Minato’s or Kushina’s deaths like the others.  The nine-tails attack was just more evidence of what a shit world he’d been thrown into. 

 

Filling his days with black ops missions to protect the leaf village was the only way he knew to distract himself from expecting what misery might come next.  The years he spent as an ANBU Captain didn’t add light to his life, though. It only threw him deeper into the darkness, which he’d learned to welcome with open arms.  

 

The eventual addition of an eleven-year-old boy on his team stirred an awakening in him; the Uchiha boy was a reflection of Kakashi’s youth, bringing more clarity to Kakashi than he’d ever had before.  He’d become known now as Friend Killer, Cold Hearted Kakashi, Kakashi of the Sharingan. All names painful reminders of the theme of his entire existence: destruction. After years of being consumed by the job and blindly obeying the Hokage’s orders whether they were to spy, kill, or hide evidence, he saw the truth behind those names he’d tried to deny when he saw a piece of himself reflected in the cold, emotionless eyes of Itachi Uchiha.

 

Sitting up in bed, drenched in a cold sweat one night following the replayed scene of Rin whispering his name, Kakashi reached a decision which had been niggling at his brain for a while.

 

The only way for him to protect the leaf village if there truly were any shred of goodness remaining in it, was to rid the village of his presence.  They were better off without him. None of them would miss the village’s Friend Killer. If that title was so fitting for him, better he go out and make some new friends more deserving of his corrosive company.

 

He immediately gathered the essentials.  Whatever weapons and food pills he could fit in his pack plus an extra duffel with spare clothing and scrolls.  He donned his ANBU garb for the final time. The borders of the village would be guarded at this hour of night, but dressed like this, Kakashi could leave under the guise of a secret mission given to him personally by the Hokage.  It wouldn’t be the first time. No one would question his true purpose for leaving until long after he was gone. 

 

Kakashi pulled his mask over his face while his gaze swept one final time over his home.  It felt refreshing to look around here and know this was the last time he’d see the place.  With every step forward, it seemed this decision took weight off Kakashi’s shoulders he didn’t realize he’d been carrying.

 

Once Kakashi was well outside the borders of the leaf village, he took the final act which would stop him from ever considering returning.  

 

He withdrew his hitai-ate and a weapon from his bag.  He took a deep breath as he plunged the kunai’s sharp tip into the metal.  Fire raced through his veins and his sharingan seemed to burn his left eye as he watched the metal take damage.  Kakashi had to steady the tremor of his hand as he dragged the kunai across the leaf emblem, negating his tie to the village.  A paradoxical wave of euphoria and grief hit him at once when it was done. The grief, he was used to.

 

The euphoria was new.

 

* * *

Kneeling in the Hokage’s office with his ANBU team surrounding him minus the glaring absence of his always-on-time Captain, Tenzo kept his head down.  He didn’t want anyone to see his frown or the telltale twitching of his eyes. The fact that the entire team was summoned to the hokage’s office this morning in the first place, rather than Kakashi handing Team Ro’s orders down to them at the locker rooms, was a bad sign.  Something was wrong.

 

“I suppose you all may have guessed by now why I’ve called you here,” the Third Hokage said, his downcast eyes set on his hands clasped over his desk.

 

“Captain Kakashi…” Yugao said

 

Lord Third’s voice sounded like a growl.  “Have any of you seen or heard from him this morning?”

 

Tenzo’s eyes widened.  They were all too well trained to gasp or act out their shock, but the feeling in the room was palpable.  When Yugao and Shicho started, their movement visible from the corner of Tenzo’s eye, Lord Third’s sharp eyes snapped to them.

 

“Lord Hokage,” Shicho said, his head tilting in a confusion that was evident even beneath his rabbit mask.

 

“Yes?” The Hokage said, his voice rising with frustration.  “What is it?”

 

“Last night,” Shicho continued.  “Well,  _ you _ should know where he is, Lord Third.”

 

The Hokage blinked, his wrinkled eyes hooded beneath his pointed Hokage hat barely visible in the shadows.  His palm slammed his desk, causing the team to tense at his outburst.

 

“I do not!” Lord Sarutobi said.  “Why would you think I do?”

 

Shicho exchanged a glance with Tenzo, his dark eyes shining with worry behind his mask before he addressed the Hokage. “He...said he had a mission.”

 

The Hokage leaned across his desk.  “From Lord Danzo?”

 

It was clear by the widening of his eyes that he knew the answer would be negative.  Shicho clearly expected these so-called orders to be from the Third Hokage himself. They _clearly_ weren’t.  Tenzo felt pressure wedge in his throat.  His fingers dug into the soft cloth covering his knees.  Kakashi couldn’t leave the village. He was the best ANBU captain Tenzo knew.  Hell, he was an _ANBU_ _captain_.  He _couldn’t_ leave the village unsanctioned.  If he did, this would spell disaster for the leaf village.  It spelled disaster for Kakashi. Tenzo didn’t want to believe he actually did it.

 

“N-no, Lord Third,” Shicho said, confirming Tenzo’s fears.  “From you.”

 

The third Hokage’s eyes drifted to the side, his teeth gritting.  “Kakashi…”

 

Yugao clenched a fist in front of her.  “It can’t be! He wouldn’t-“

 

“Your orders,” the third Hokage ground out, “are to find your captain before he leaves Fire County and return him to the village for interrogation.”

 

Tenzo looked down into his lap as he muttered, “Yes, Lord Hokage,” with the rest of them.

 

He knew their hopes of success were slim.  He didn’t want to believe Kakashi would harm any of them, but if they did come into contact with him, they would be at a disadvantage.  Kakashi would deduce that their orders were not to kill.  _ He _ had no such limitation.  Even if he didn’t have any intent to kill, that gave him a much greater range of options in combat.  And this was Kakashi Hatake. He knew all his team’s abilities. Tenzo would have to take over as Captain for this mission, being second in command and with no replacement.  

 

He didn’t want this job.

 

Best case scenario, Kakashi would avoid their detection altogether.  But that lead to the worst case scenario - Tenzo would return to the village with a failed mission and no way of knowing what’d become of his captain and friend.  If Kakashi escaped beyond Fire County, the next mission to retrieve him would be under assassination orders.

 

That first mission, no surprise to Tenzo, failed.

 

So did every Jounin team’s subsequent attempt to track Kakashi Hatake in the months following.

 

Worst of all, in spite of several rumors and theories floating around the Leaf Village, no one truly knew what Kakashi Hatake was thinking when he left.


	2. Recruited

Kakashi had taken painstaking efforts to avoid any contact with ninja from the leaf during his first years outside the village.  They’d predictably sent teams of ninja after him, but he’d evaded their every pursuit. To his surprise, living rogue came naturally.  It wasn’t that far off from his life in the black ops. The biggest difference was the lack of team, which was a pleasant change at most times, but it did complicate matters at others.  Simply laying low was Kakashi’s plan from the beginning, but as the years passed, he realized he needed to  _ do _ something with his life aside from survive.  He couldn’t return to the village, and he didn’t want to.  His name was already in the Blood Mist Village’s bingo books before he’d even left the leaf village, and of course there was a high bounty on his head from the Hidden Leaf, him being a major liability to their security as a previous black ops captain, skilled ninja with a Sharingan, and man who’d left without leaving a hint as to his intentions.  

 

Any purpose to his life still evaded  _ him _ , even after spending the past four years contemplating his path.

 

Rumors about the Copy Ninja floated endlessly, some true and some not, making him out to be up to all sorts of schemes.  Kakashi had scattered shadow clones across the ninja world in the early years, misdirecting rumors of his whereabouts. Nowadays, that measure was no longer necessary - the villages hunting him out had realized the futility of chasing his shadows.  

 

Kakashi was sure by now that any ninja from the leaf, whether they were friends with him back then or not, would take him down without a second thought.  He’d let comrades die. He’d abandoned his village. He’d given vital information about the leaf to enemies, for all they knew. He was a threat with intimate knowledge of the weaknesses of each of the leaf’s greatest ninja.  After all the violence and hatred he’d seen these past four years, surmounted to be even greater than what he’d witnessed in his war days, Kakashi knew they had to hate him. Hatred built over time; love and caring evolved into destructive behaviors.  His efforts of remaining distant to avoid worsening the cycle paid off for a time, but now…

 

He’d heard about the Uchiha clan massacre, which might’ve been surprising to the old Kakashi - especially given the named perpetrator - but when he learned of it a few years ago, it didn’t even phase him.  The Uchiha in question being here now proved merit to the sand village’s continuous gossip about the clan’s fate.

 

Kakashi peered over his shoulder, looking past the table of boisterous drinking Sand comrades, to the ninja named responsible for such a massacre standing in the doorway of the bar.  “This is a surprise.”

 

He sipped his drink, casting sideways glances past the edges of his hood at the other patrons.  He’d spoken so low, most people here didn’t notice his comment. He wouldn’t have made one, in most cases.  He’d been here before. Usually at a time like this, he’d slip away before being seen. He didn’t expect his comment to slip past his intended recipient, though.  Kakashi already knew he was spotted before he’d uttered a word.

 

Itachi had always been a keen observer and had purpose behind his actions.  This was no chance encounter. 

 

Kakashi slipped a hand to the kunai in his pack without causing a single ripple of his cloak’s loose flowing material.  His hand tightened around the weapon as footsteps approached him. He knew to expect  _ something _ from Itachi, but he didn’t know  _ what _ to expect.

 

“Sake,” said the familiar voice beside him, addressing the bartender.

 

The old man behind the bar acknowledged the hooded figure with a nod before ducking to his supply, clinking glasses as he worked out of their line of sight.  Kakashi hardened his forward-set gaze as the barstool beside him creaked with Itachi’s settling weight.

 

“Here you go,” the bartender said, his fingers easing off the sake cup as his eyes drifted to the shadowed face at Kakashi’s side.  The old man’s gaze grew uneasy until his wrinkled eyes finally looked away and the hunched man wisely moved to the other end of the bar.

 

Kakashi watched as the steaming sake cup was lifted to Itachi’s lips.  Grabbing his glass with his exposed hand, Kakashi finished his drink as he waited to see what Itachi’s next move would be.  He didn’t want to fight Itachi - but if he had to, he would.

 

“I didn’t believe the rumors at first,” Kakashi said conversationally, his voice too low for anyone but Itachi.

 

“I could say the same about you.”

 

Kakashi’s lips quirked behind his mask in an unseen wry smile.  “Which rumors would those be?”

 

“Take your pick,” Itachi said coyly.

 

“Believe what you want.”

 

“A funny thing, rumors,” Itachi said, his voice almost a whisper.  “They can be deceiving.”

 

Kakashi turned minutely, finally regarding Itachi with his gaze when Itachi’s words suggested something to Kakashi that struck a chord.  He found the man wearing a headband identical to his, his leaf emblem slashed all the way across, his black hair still the way Kakashi remembered it from when Itachi joined Team Ro as an eleven-year-old, but his face was now matured to that of an older teen, completely wiped of the youthful innocence Kakashi had seen in him before. 

 

Itachi’s cloak struck Kakashi more than anything else about Itachi’s appearance.  He didn’t wear solid black like Kakashi. Itachi wore a cloak with the interior lined with red and the outside emblazoned with red clouds.  It was more ostentatious than Kakashi would expect from an S-class-branded criminal.

 

Kakashi narrowed his eyes.  “Why are you here?”

 

“Same reason you are, I suppose.”

 

Kakashi’s lips pressed into a hard line as his eyes met Itachi’s stoic gaze.  If Itachi was here for the same reason Kakashi was, then he, too, was looking for someone.  But Itachi had no way of knowing what Kakashi’s real reason for being here was. He could mean Kakashi was just as guilty of murder as Itachi.  Which wasn’t untrue. Even  _ before _ he left the leaf, Kakashi was an accomplished murderer. Since then, being on the run and encountering ninja interested in taking on his bounty or whatever else he had on hand, Kakashi’s kill count had soared well into the hundreds.  The reason the Copy Ninja was here in this bar in the Land of Wind now was to encounter someone who had a special genjutsu he could use for taking his next step in his life as a rogue ninja.

 

The ideal place he’d chosen to live out the rest of his days unbothered was the Village Hidden in the Rain.  The location might’ve been strife with civil war, but it was contained and isolated from the rest of the ninja world.  If Kakashi settled there, no one from the Land of Fire would ever have to know that Kakashi Hatake was still alive. No one else would have to be killed tracking him.  The only problem was, it was nearly impossible to get into. Yet, with the jutsu this certain person from the Land of Wind possessed, Kakashi had devised a way in. He couldn’t do that with Itachi on his trail, though.  Especially not if Itachi meant him harm.

 

“Which of our names,” Itachi said, his eyes shining red and wandering wistfully toward the bar’s dingy ceiling, “do you think would raise more alarm in this place?  Mine...or yours?”

 

Kakashi looked Itachi up and down before rising from his stool.  There were only so many ways things could play out from here, and none of them were good if he remained in this bar.  He was done talking to Itachi here. He hoped to be done talking to him  _ at all _ .

 

He pulled his cloak tighter to conceal his face from any onlookers.  “Nice seeing you...Itachi Uchiha.”

 

“And you,” Itachi said sharply when Kakashi moved quickly, the teen’s voice rising across the bar to a level all could hear, “Kakashi Hatake.”

 

Gasps filled the air and Kakashi tensed. He swept out the front door.  He didn't waste a moment to absorb the patrons’ shocked faces or listen to their whispers.  The parade of footsteps behind him drew a curse to his lips as he slammed the door and shot into the air. He surged forward into the dark of night, intent on disappearing rather than having to take down a mob of amateur ninja who might’ve considered themselves lucky enough tonight to take down an S-class rogue.  Kakashi didn’t know what Itachi’s game was. He couldn’t imagine what his past ANBU comrade had to gain from this encounter. Maybe Itachi wanted to see a demonstration, something similar to what he’d done in the Uchiha district of the Leaf Village. Maybe he intended to chase Kakashi out of a public place.  Or maybe this was some sort of test.

 

Kakashi sneered over his shoulder as more unfortunate footsteps followed in the dark alleyway he’d slipped into.  “A test for  _ what _ _?”_ he asked himself aloud.

 

“Hello…” The deep, unexpected voice at the end of the alley up ahead brought Kakashi to an abrupt halt. “...Kakashi Hatake.”

 

Kakashi couldn’t see the figure to match the beady eyes shining at him from the shadows, but he could sense the immense power.  This wasn’t just any bum looking to collect a bounty. Kakashi weaved a sign and clasped his wrist, creating lightning in his palm. The light flickered, illuminating the blackness and shadows on the stone walls surrounding him.  It also illuminated the gilled face up ahead, the movement of light making the tall figure look perhaps more ominous than he was.

 

“Don’t, Kakashi,” Itachi’s voice called from behind.  “This is my associate, Kisame Hoshigaki.”

 

“Kisame Hoshigaki?” Kakashi breathed, his eyes widening.

 

Kakashi knew the name and now understood why he felt that sensation of power wafting off of him.  Kakashi lowered his hand as the identified man stepped forward, coming out of the shadows which rippled down his face with every step like a receding black wave.  The man’s blue-toned skin and pointed teeth of his flashed smile immediately reminded Kakashi of the Swordsmen of the Mist, including the one he’d recently killed.  Kisame’s beady eyes were even more pronounced and striking once he came forward. He wore the same cloak as Itachi and a wrapped sword strapped across his back, but made no move for the weapon as he approached Kakashi.  Kakashi extinguished his chidori, but remained tense as the pair of skilled ninja closed in on him from both ends of the alley.

 

“A pleasure to meet you,” Kisame said, his words rolling smoothly off his tongue.  “Kakashi of the Sharingan has quite the reputation. Itachi here has nothing but good things to say about working with you in the past.”

 

“Is that what you want?” Kakashi asked, raising his exposed brow.  “To work with me?”

 

“In a sense,” Itachi said, drawing a gasp from Kakashi as he felt a rush of warm air rustle his hair at the back of his neck and realized just how close Itachi was.  “Our leader would like to meet with you.”

 

“For what?” Kakashi snorted.

 

He didn’t like where this was going.  The prickling sensation of danger hadn't left him since first running into Itachi.  If there was anything Kakashi had learned in these past four years as a rogue ninja, it was that anytime anyone approached you, it was never good news.  This was likely a trap. If it wasn’t a trap and they actually wanted him, it wasn’t for anything good.

 

Kisame stepped forward.  “That’s not for us to say.  Our orders are to deliver you to this meeting.   _ He _ will tell you what he wants with you.”

 

“Who’s  _ he ?” _

 

Itachi’s hand landed on Kakashi’s shoulder.  “You’ll find out when we get there.”

 

“Where?” Kakashi asked aggressively, getting the feeling these two intended to give him no choice in the matter.

 

“The Village Hidden in the Rain,” Itachi said, his sly smile barely perceptible from the corner of Kakashi’s eye.  “Isn’t that where you  _ want _ to go?”

 

The Village Hidden in the Rain.  Kakashi didn’t know how Itachi could know his plan, but he filed that thought away for later.  Kakashi took a deep breath and stepped back from Itachi’s grasp, regarding Itachi and Kisame. Their expressions were sincere, expectant.  There was no telling what would happen once they were within the Village Hidden in the Rain, but he couldn’t deny that this was something he could use. He needed to go to the village outside the control of the ninja nations.  It made sense that a ninja recruiting people like Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki would reside there. By now, Kakashi had missed his chance to encounter his originally planned target. It was either start over again by formulating a new plan to find a way in  _ without _ that genjutsu, or go along with Itachi.  Seeing that he’d be up against an adept Sharingan user and a man emanating massive chakra, he would be stupid not to agree.

 

“Fine,” Kakashi drawled.  “I’ll come with you. What now?”

 

“Now we rest,” Kisame said, turning and walking to lead them down the alley.  “We’ll set out at dawn.”

 

* * *

 

“We’ve been out here since dawn,” Guy said with a yawn as he stretched his arms straight into the air, walking toward a cluster of trees backlit by full sunlight.  “We’re not getting any younger sitting around. Might as well do some stretches, my friends.”

 

“Guy,” Captain Yamato said, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple when Guy looked his way, “please sit down.  If Kakashi is anywhere near us, we won’t have a chance to find him if you’re moving around in that flashy green and orange getup.”

 

Guy wanted to laugh.  These guys might’ve thought they knew Kakashi, but they didn’t know him like Guy did. Guy was flashing his location on  _ purpose _ .  He wanted Kakashi to see him.  All the other stealth missions lead like this one to bring Kakashi back had failed.  What the others didn’t know was that all it really would take to bring Kakashi back was a reminder of friendship and the joys of his springtime of youth.  That was the way!

 

“Nonsense!” Guy said, interrupting his lunge to flash the others a promising smile.  “My rival will be  _ thrilled _ to see me again!  Who knows what type of people he’s been subjected to these last few years.  Ah, he must really miss his true friends.”

 

Guy’s eye drifted to the blue sky beyond the thick canopy of trees as he allowed himself to smile.  He didn’t smile much when thinking of his eternal rival these days. Guy knew what a dark place his friend was in, even before he’d left the village.  Guy would lend Kakashi some of his youthful feeling if he could. What he could do now, though, was to wait for him to appear and shower him with feeling, passion, and appreciation.  

 

With a wistful sigh, Guy looked to the others still huddled around their map of Kakashi’s recent sightings.  The guy, Yamato, who’d been thrown on their team for “knowing Kakashi in the ANBU”, along with Asuma and Genma, seemed to be giving each other weird looks.  They were so focused on the intel from the Mist, but Guy knew better than to think his eternal rival would let Hidden Mist ninja keep tabs on him. They’d had leads from better sources in the past, but even then, no team even managed to  _ encounter _ Kakashi.  Guy wished someone would, just once.  Even if it couldn’t be himself, on this mission.  He just wanted someone to confirm that his rival was as healthy and spry as when he left.  

 

“Kakashi!” Guy cried.  He felt tears burn behind his eyes and a desire to sob.

 

“Listen to Yamato, Guy,” Asuma said, blowing smoke from between his parted lips.  “He’s an ANBU guy, remember? He knows how Kakashi works.”

 

Guy’s brow twitched at Asuma’s assertion echoing what they’d been told earlier.  “Better than his  _ friends _ ?”

 

Yamato raised a brow.  “Are you saying I’m not a friend?”

 

Guy crossed his arms and raised his chin.  “All I know is, Kakashi was never happy during his ANBU days.  I’m sure it’s why he left.”

 

“When was Kakashi  _ ever _ a happy guy?” Asuma snorted.  He shook his head and looked to Yamato, who wore an expression like he’d been punched in the gut.  “No, Kakashi liked being in the ANBU, for whatever reason.” Asuma’s gaze became distant. “ _No one_ ’s figured out why he left.”

 

Guy lowered his eyes, his lips turning down in a frown.  He found that statement hard to believe.  Asuma had to have come to some conclusion about why Kakashi left by now.  He usually had his theories. He was smart. Not  _ Kakashi _ smart, but the man was a thinker.  And Guy...Guy couldn’t even begin to imagine why Kakashi left.  What was not to love about the Hidden Leaf Village? It was Kakashi’s home - all of their home.  They grew up here together and swore as ninja to protect it. Guy couldn’t imagine where his rival had gone wrong.  The only possibility that seemed believable for him was some outside force  _ making _ Kakashi leave.  Because maybe Asuma was right about how Kakashi felt about the ANBU, but  _ something _ had to be blamed for Kakashi’s desertion.  

 

No matter how many years it took to bring Kakashi back, Guy refused to ever stop having faith in his rival.

 

* * *

 

The sky above the village was a blanket of gray.  Even without using his Sharingan, Kakashi could tell by the blurry haze over every steeple and roof that everything beyond the concrete wall in front of them was doused in rainfall.  A cool air flowed from the direction of the village, batting Kakashi’s gray spikes of hair against his uncovered eye which was carefully trained on Itachi. He was waiting for the moment when Itachi would look away, when he could form his shadow clone.

 

Then once past the gates, the real him would slip away to explore.  His clone could find out what this meeting was all about.

  
\---  
  


Shadow Kakashi was worried.  Judging by the huff Itachi gave when looking his way shortly after the split, the shadow knew Itachi was onto him not being the real Kakashi.  If only he could communicate with his true self  _ before _ disappearing in a cloud of dust.  He had to keep this up as long as possible, though.  It didn’t seem Kisame had caught on, and for some reason, Itachi hadn’t mentioned anything to his partner or the men now standing in front of them.

 

“Thank you for coming,” said the man with bluntly spiked red hair and piercings lining his nose.

 

Shadow Kakashi frowned.  His eyes panned across the group inhabiting this tower into which Itachi and Kisame had brought him.  This was the tallest tower in the Rain Village, a quiet village which appeared to be free of civil war or any violence, judging by his walk here, counter to outside popular opinions.

 

“We are Pain,” the redhead said as he gestured with a wide wave to the similarly red-haired, facial-pierced men lined up beside him.  He nodded to a woman, similar to the others only in her red-clouded robe and the piercing beneath her lip. “This is Konan.”

 

Shadow Kakashi caught the speaker’s swirled gray eyes in a dead stare.  “Uh-huh…”

 

Kisame shifted his stance at Shadow Kakashi’s right, eyeing Itachi with an amused grin.  “Are all you leaf villagers this talkative?”

 

Itachi met Kisame’s gaze without saying a word.

 

“From what I hear,” Pain said, narrowing his eyes at Kakashi, “you are a man who may be interested in aiding our cause.”

 

Shadow Kakashi raised a brow at Itachi, knowing out of everyone here, that man would be the one to inform him if this whole thing was one big hoax.  He didn’t know about any causes he’d want to assist. This “us” Pain spoke of was likely his multiple selves lined up in a row. More likely, Shadow Kakashi admitted to himself with a frown, these red and black cloaks and painted fingernails identified the members of this organization he truly referred to, however many they were.  When Itachi’s face remained impassive, Shadow Kakashi sighed. He willed himself to indulge this conversation for as long as it took his real self to make an appearance. He knew he was around here somewhere.

 

“You’ve grieved,” Pain continued.  “Lost more comrades and loved ones than you have remaining in this world.  You’ve seen the dark side of ways of the shinobi which are drowning us all in death, grief, and hatred.” As Shadow Kakashi swallowed down a lump inexplicably forming in his throat, Pain lowered his chin and hardened his gaze.  “You know pain.”

 

Shadow Kakashi cleared his throat before laughing bitterly at the understatement.  “What else is there?”

 

“Nothing,” Pain said.

 

Shadow Kakashi blinked.  No one had ever admitted as much to him.  Kakashi had always been the only one to acknowledge the sorry state of this existence.  Here, there were no consolations, no encouragements that ‘if he held out a little longer, it might all get better, people might stop dying’.  Shadow Kakashi’s gaze swept across the room. He could see it in their faces. These people  _ understood _ .  The realization hit him like the death of a fellow clone.

 

“You’ve lost people, too,” he said breathlessly.

 

“We’ve all lost hope for this world,” Pain said gravely.

 

“So…” Shadow Kakashi said, furrowing his brows when his mind replayed the earlier suggestion of his assisting with their cause, “in a hopeless world...what possible cause can you  _ have _ ?”

 

“We have a dream,” said Konan, her face somehow brightening while remaining stoic.  “We’ll create a new reality where comrades don’t have to die and wars will never be waged.”

 

“A new reality?”

 

As Konan opened her mouth to reply, Pain held up a hand, stopping her as his eyes - all six sets of Pain’s eyes - drifted to the high domed ceiling.  “Before we go on, we’ll speak to the real you.”

 

Pain gave a nod to Itachi at Shadow Kakashi’s side.  A searing pain shot through the clone's abdomen as Itachi moved in a flash.  As Shadow Kakashi was encased in a flash of lightning, he felt all his chakra and recently-acquired memories phase into the mind of his creator, who looked down on them from the rafters above, equally shocked and fascinated with the recent revelations.  Maybe it was just the electrical surge and the adrenaline rush from his original being spotted, but before his last snap of lightning dissipated, the clone had the feeling Kakashi was intrigued.


	3. Assignments

Hiruzen watched the black ops agent in his office.  Tenzo’s porcelain masked was angled away from him, turned toward the crows still flying outside his window.  A black feather drifted across the glass pane and somersaulted in the air. Before it faded into a blur, Hiruzen called for Tenzo’s attention.

 

“Yamato!” Hiruzen said, using Tenzo’s code name now in use by every Leaf shinobi getting to know him outside the black ops.  “What I’m about to tell you is strictly confidential. It cannot leave this room.”

 

Tenzo straightened up in his crouched position, his dark eyes casting a fleeting, distracted glance back to the window, before turning his masked face on Hiruzen.  “Yes!”

 

Hiruzen clenched his jaw.  The more people they allowed into the chain of information, the more dangerous this was for Itachi and everything they’d worked toward thus far.  But this Kakashi Hatake business was a real problem. Danzo already ordered his men to kill Kakashi on sight, in spite of Hiruzen’s protests. That boy had been one of the most promising ninja this village had ever seen.  He was far too valuable an asset to just lay to waste like that. Unfortunately, Danzo wasn’t completely wrong - he never was. Kakashi was far too great a liability to ignore anymore. His newly-formed ties to the Akatsuki were beyond concerning.

 

“Danzo and I are entrusting this mission to you alone,” Hiruzen said slowly, “but we want you to keep it quiet for now.  There is an organization of rogue ninja, very powerful, of whose purpose we are not fully aware yet.”

 

“Rogue ninja?” Tenzo asked.  He knitted his brows, forming quick conclusions like most ANBU agents did.  “Working  _ together _ ?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Tenzo remained silent, staring at Hiruzen through that blank mask, but in the moment of tension, Hiruzen imagined his brows knitted, his lips forming into a hard line.  Hiruzen waited. He knew Tenzo would have questions once he pieced together the organization named in their bingo books, the need for discretion, and Tenzo’s significance in all this.

 

“They seem to travel in pairs and come from various villages,” Hiruzen continued once he assumed he’d allowed a significant wait, “though the Hidden Leaf can now be held accountable for more than two of their members.  Namely…”

 

Hiruzen's voice tapered off, and not long after, Tenzo gasped.  It was the gasp Hiruzen expected, as well as the one he didn’t want to hear.  It pained Hiruzen to know Kakashi Hatake’s past friends and associates had to draw such terrible conclusions about him, almost as much as it pained him every time someone spoke ill of Orochimaru or Itachi Uchiha.  Orochimaru was a separate issue, gone off on his own to accomplish those sinister goals Hiruzen most feared. At least in the case of Itachi, Hiruzen could defend that man within his own mind. For Kakashi Hatake, he could make no excuses.

 

The mask angled up, Tenzo’s dark sockets seeking Hiruzen’s eyes.  “The Captain?”

 

Hiruzen nodded gravely, saddened by the fact that Tenzo still referred to Kakashi almost reverently with that title.  “Our informant tells us Kakashi Hatake seems to have been recruited into their ranks.”

 

“Maybe...maybe that’s a good sign,” Tenzo said, his breathing growing labored.  “Kakashi would never-“

 

“Never say never!” Hiruzen said, needing to reinforce the graveness of this situation and unpredictability of a rogue ninja, to himself as well as to the black ops agent kneeling before him.  “When it comes to rogues, anything is possible. I’ve seen ninja contradict expectations time and time again. Now,” he said, calming as he clasped his hands over his desk, “I don’t know what these Akatsuki have planned, but they’ve been preparing to make a move.  Seeing that they have not only Itachi Uchiha now, but also Kakashi Hatake with them, I’m concerned for the security of this village.”

 

Tenzo gasped.  “You don’t think they would-“

 

“ _ Anything _  is possible,” Hiruzen repeated firmly.  “I need you to stay attuned to any signs of activity outside the borders of the village.  If something is going to happen, I want my ANBU men ready before it does. Danzo has men on patrol at all hours of the day, but only you will know  _ who _  you’re looking for.”

 

Hiruzen watched Tenzo gulp as the severity of this assignment weighed on him.  Hiruzen hoped he’d picked the right man for the job - this agent had started off in ROOT, after all.  Usually, Hiruzen wouldn’t put this much trust in one of Danzo’s boys, but there was something between this boy and Kakashi Hatake.  There seemed to exist some level of trust Hiruzen didn’t often see in the black ops. He hoped Tenzo realized the potential of a way out for Kakashi, fleeting as that hope might’ve been.  As long as Kakashi Hatake didn’t commit an unforgivable crime against this village, Hiruzen saw no reason he couldn’t allow Kakashi back with a slap on the wrist. Hiruzen trusted this young man because he suspected Tenzo would know the possible consequences of this Akatsuki information being widely spread through the ANBU ranks.  He would be the least untrustworthy agent with this information on Kakashi.

 

“You want to give him a chance to return to the village,” Tenzo said, to Hiruzen’s relief.

 

A breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding rushed from Hiruzen’s lungs before he gave a curt nod.  “That’s between you and me,” he said as his eyes drifted toward the window.

 

Tenzo followed his gaze.  There was no more trace of the crows who had lingered outside.  But inside, a single black feather lay curled on the window ledge.  It promised of more news to come from Itachi, nothing Hiruzen expected to be good.

 

* * *

 

Kakashi didn’t understand the point behind the nail polish and ring hidden beneath the lengthy sleeves of these robes and his fingerless gloves, but as long as everyone left him alone and let him read his novel, they could paint his toenails and fingernails whatever color they wanted.  With one cursory glance, he confirmed that white was the artist’s color of choice. Kakashi didn’t know why Deidara chose that color and he didn’t care. He turned a page, enjoying the familiar sound of paper until the man in front of him grunted.

 

Deidara tugged Kakashi’s page-turning hand back into his grasp.  “I wasn’t finished with that hand, un.”

 

Kakashi exhaled through his nose and continued reading without looking at Deidara’s face half-hidden behind long blonde hair.  Kakashi wouldn’t need that hand again for another minute or so anyway. Deidara hadn’t stopped speaking - but Kakashi had stopped listening.  He was more interested in the seductive dialogue between his book’s heroine and leading man than Deidara’s art rant. The good stuff was coming in the next few pages.

 

It was strange, being here like this.  This was the first time in years Kakashi had sat down to read one of his novels on the ground rather than in a tree, hiding alone in the leaves.  It was the first time he had company who wasn’t here to kill him. He hadn’t  _ completely _  let his guard down around these people - but Kakashi couldn’t deny the sense of ease he felt here.  He figured it made sense that  _ he _  should be more comfortable surrounded by traitors and mass murderers than in a thriving village full of happy families.  

 

Those families weren’t really happy though, he reminded himself.  

 

That was why he had to do this.

 

Most of them were grieving a recent loss.  Those who  _ weren’t _  would be soon, one way or another.  He supposed it didn’t make a difference whether those deaths were caused by other forces or his hands.  They were destined to happen, regardless. The lives of the jinchuriki and whatever poor fools wanted to protect them were just as forfeit as everyone else’s. The Akatsuki’s end game was worth the means, crude as their plan initially sounded.  It would take some patience on his part, but if they succeeded, everyone would know peace. His losses of his father, Obito, Rin, and Minato would be irrelevant. He could have them all in his life again in this new reality. He could  _ be _  someone, rather than the trash he’d become after failing to protect his comrades.  All the young genin of the leaf village would never have to know true darkness. They’d never experience the same pain he’d endured.  He wasn’t just agreeing to this cause for himself - it was for the good of the world.

 

Kakashi flipped to the next page, his conscience feeling remarkably light, considering that he’d just come to terms with capturing and killing people for the powerful tailed demons inside them.

 

* * *

 

“Have you any news to report of Kakashi Hatake?”

 

Tenzō looked up at the Third Hokage, shaking his head.  “Apologies. We’ve only just recently received the assignment to expand our surveillance beyond the Land of Fire’s borders, and given the secrecy required of me-“

 

The Hokage held up a hand.  “I know. You’re doing the best you can within the confines of your parameters.  Given my other intel being more and more limited as of late, I believe the Akatsuki has been lying low these past three years.” The Hokage grimaced.  “This would be reassuring, but their lack of action only worries me more.”

 

Tenzō raised a brow.  “They’re planning something big.  What could they be planning for this long?”

 

The Hokage’s grimace deepened as his heavy sigh sounded more like a growl.  Instead of answering Tenzo’s question, after a long drag from his smoking pipe, Lord Third looked at him with eyes brightening.

 

“Your work with the village Jounin from Kakashi’s class seems to be acclimating you well to them,” the Hokage said with a smile Tenzo could only read as genuine, though his change in subject made Tenzō suspicious.  “These past three years seem to have solidified your place in the village, elevating you from the underground, hm?”

 

“Yes, I suppose…” Tenzo said warily.

 

“I’m giving you a new assignment, seeing that the lack of movement from the Akatsuki has made your skills and time more relevant elsewhere.  I have something much more important I need from you now.”

 

Tenzo’s brows rose, his heart quickening as he realized his feelings of suspicion weren’t unwarranted.  “Yes, Lord Third.”

 

The Hokage chuckled.  “Don’t worry. This assignment might be slightly outside your comfort zone, but it will be good for you.  As of today, I’m retiring you from the black ops.”

 

Tenzō blinked.  That was the last thing he expected the Hokage to say.  All he’d ever known was the Foundation. Being pulled out of ANBU seemed not only like an impossibility, but a slap in the face.  As much pain and darkness as it had put him through, Tenzo felt strangely attached to the organization.

 

“I need your unique skills, Tenzo,” the Hokage said, his tone insistent as he seemed to read the look in Tenzo’s eyes.  “There is a certain boy who’s become a genin and is in need of an instructor who can handle his rare condition.”

 

“Instructor?” Tenzo sputtered.  “Genin?”

 

“I wouldn’t usually assign someone to this task who isn’t a graduate of our academy, but your wood style will be essential as this boy develops his abilities.”

 

“L-Lord Third, I-“ Tenzo ceased his objection when the Hokage met his eyes with a glare that told him not to argue.  It was clear he was not being given a choice in this matter. Tenzō slumped in defeat. “What do I have to do?”

 

“You’ll do fine, Tenzo,” the Hokage said with a fatherly warmth.  “You can speak to the academy instructor, Iruka Umino, for information about your team and what to expect from this experience.”

 

Tenzō sighed.  This was not what he expected when he was summoned to the Hokage’s office today.  He expected news about Kakashi, or the Akatsuki, but it seemed the lack of information to report about was all the news he was getting.  The Akatsuki’s inactivity was reassuring - at least he knew his own failure to procure information wasn’t a mistake on his part - but this change in assignment was more than he could comprehend right now.  He didn’t like leaving a task unfinished.

 

He met the Hokage’s eyes and set his jaw.  “What about Kakashi Hatake, Lord Hokage? The Akatsuki?”

 

The Hokage sucked on the end of his pipe and looked at Tenzo with tired eyes.  Tenzō didn’t expect any real answer. The Hokage’s look told him those matters were no longer his concern.  Whatever the situation with this boy, it had to be more important than Tenzō thought, to trump that critical matter.

 

“You’ve done your job well these past years, Tenzo,” Lord Third said.  “Let me worry about it from here. I won’t let the Akatsuki harm this village.”

 

* * *

 

Four years he’d been with the Akatsuki now, and looking back, Kakashi hadn’t seen nearly as much action as he’d expected.  Part of the reason he’d joined this organization was his need for missions, for keeping busy. Kakashi supposed the spying to gather data on their jinchuriki targets were activity enough, or these past four years wouldn’t have flown by so quickly.  That jerk Kakuzu’s persistent demands that they hunt bounties for  _ pay only _  could be annoying, but Kakashi supposed the high-priced jobs he chose did keep things interesting around here.  Kakashi was losing his patience with the waiting, though. He saw more hell and darkness in the world now than he ever had before and wished more than ever he could scrub his eyes of it all.  He wanted the real mission to begin and reality to change. Only Zetsu seemed to really know when that would happen.

 

“...I wonder what Danzo’s doing now,” Itachi finished.

 

Kakashi turned his exposed eye on him, regarding Itachi’s unspoken expectation of a reply.  They occasionally reminisced like this about their ANBU days, but it was rare for any of the context to leak into the present.  Sharing stories and recalling kills were a way to kill time between the two past Hidden Leaf ninja among the group when they came together, which sometimes felt more meant as entertainment for the others rather than nostalgia for the two of them.  Given Itachi’s tone, Kakashi didn’t believe Itachi cared to know what Danzo was doing. Maybe he only cared to see Kakashi’s reaction, to know whether Kakashi ever thought of how Danzo or anyone back at the Leaf Village was doing.

 

Kakashi shrugged, raising a palm in the air.  “I don’t care.”

 

Itachi hummed, considering.  “I guess you don’t.”

 

Kakashi side-eyed the quiet Uchiha.  Itachi has always been a little hard to read, but it was curious that he’d suggest caring anything about the people in the Hidden Leaf village after what he did there.  Kakashi knew why  _ he _  was here - he knew this world and everything in it was hell, nothing ever to improve, no comrades to ever survive without leaving a gaping hole in their wake before they inevitably died - but he found it hard to believe that Itachi had learned that lesson.  After all, he  _ chose _  for his comrades and friends to die.  The only hell Itachi Uchiha could possibly have known before this life was a self-inflicted one.  Maybe he had regrets about that. Maybe the Tsuki no Me plan seemed like the only reasonable way for him to account for his mistakes.  It didn’t explain Itachi leaving a younger brother behind as a challenge to himself, though. Itachi had to be one of the hardest men to read that Kakashi had ever met.

 

“Kakashi,” Kakuzu said, his demanding voice booming off the high ceilings of the tower of their recent Hidden Rain Village home.  “Bounty.”

 

A flutter of paper sounded as Kakashi’s eye caught the bounty request Kakuzu was waving as he approached.  Kakashi frowned into the green-tinged, insistent eyes of the masked man.

 

“Where’s this one?” Kakashi drawled.

 

“In the Land of Waves,” Zetsu supplied, slipping into the room by way of the floor, his wide, flytrap-like encasement nearly cutting off Kakashi’s view of Kakuzu.  “I’ve located the rogue, Zabuza Momochi working for a petty gangster. He should bring us a pretty penny.”

 

Pain nodded from the back of the room.  “Yes, those funds should sustain our efforts over the next few months.”

 

Kakuzu thrusted the paper toward Kakashi, as if he actually needed it in regard to Zabuza.  Kakashi already knew everything he needed to know about the Demon of the Hidden Mist. He’d been on the Leaf Village’s radar back when Kakashi was still working with the ANBU.  Kakashi hated the Mist Village.

 

Kakuzu rattled the paper when Kakashi didn’t take it right away, his quick temper showing itself once again.  “Kill him and collect the bounty.”

 

Kakashi peered up at him with a lazy glare.  “I don’t want to.” He nudged his head toward the teen by his side.  “Have Itachi do it.”

 

Kakashi could feel Itachi’s eyes on him, displeased, but if Itachi truly objected to the suggestion, he wasn’t arguing about it.

 

“Kakashi,” Pain said calmly, raising his voice across the distance, “Itachi and Kisame collected the last one.  It’s your turn. We all do our part here, remember? The plan won’t work without this.”

 

Kakashi’s glare, set on Kakuzu, hardened.  “That’s because some people expect to be well paid just for being here.  I’m not one of those people.”

 

“Nevertheless,” Pain said, “you’re going.  Take Tobi with you.”

 

Kakashi’s shoulders sagged as he shifted his glare from Kakuzu’s eyes crinkling with satisfaction to Pain hidden in the shadows.  “Him? I’d rather chidori myself in the foot.”

 

That assistant of Zetsu’s didn’t come around often, but he annoyed Kakashi almost as masterfully as Guy whenever he did.  Even worse, his idiocy would be a liability in a fight. And hyper and obnoxious as he was, something else about the masked man didn’t sit well with Kakashi.  It was in the snide way he’d say Kakashi’s name, despite usually presenting himself as a happy-go-lucky moron. Kakashi often sensed Tobi’s gaze lingering on him longer than it had to be.  Then there were the occasional comments Tobi made toward Kakashi which seemed to be superficial, yet felt barbed in a way Kakashi couldn’t explain. His passive comments always hit a note, though Tobi couldn’t possibly know enough about Kakashi’s past to understand the deeper meaning behind what he’d said.  It was fortunate that Tobi didn’t show himself often, but even so, it was too much for Kakashi. He wasn’t exaggerating about self-mutilation being a better alternative.

 

From behind Kakuzu, the new guy, Hidan, let loose a gasp which seemed to suck up all the air in the room and come out in a shrill voice to match his crazed, wide eyes.  Hidan’s gasp culminated in a screech. “I want to watch! Do it, Kakashi!”

 

Kakazu whirled on Hidan with a growl.  “He’s not going to do that, you idiot! We  _ need _  him to work.”

 

With a groan, Kakashi looked past the two sadists as they continued to squabble to seek Pain’s hidden Rinnegan gaze.  “Is this an order?”

 

Kakashi couldn’t quite squash that deeply-planted instinct.  Rogue ninja or Hidden Leaf ninja, the only reliable constant in his life had always been taking orders and following them.  He survived this hell by drowning himself in work to quiet the sadness and despair that might otherwise swallow him whole before this world could be fixed.  As much as he didn’t like the assignment, he couldn’t say no to a mission.

 

“Yes,” Pain said.

 

“Can I take... _ anyone _  else?”

 

“Aw,” Zetsu cooed, “and Tobi would’ve been so excited to finally be included in a mission.”

 

“Mission?”

 

The enthused outburst from the doorway was followed by a clatter of racing footsteps and the clank of the metal door shutting behind Tobi.  Kakashi rested his head in his palm and cursed under his breath as the robed, masked figure sprang in front of Zetsu.

 

“A real mission?  For me?” Tobi cried, jumping in the air before turning to Pain.  “Oh, thank you, great leader! I can really be Akatsuki now! I’m really allowed?”

 

Kakashi raised a brow.  “You aren’t already Akatsuki?”

 

His muttered question fell on deaf ears.  The idiot was too busy twirling in circles to even consider asking about the mission, let alone address Kakashi’s comments.  

 

While Tobi continued his fanfare, Kakashi raised his brows and panned his gaze across the rest of the room’s inhabitants.  “Anyone else?”

 

“I’ll kill this Mist nonbeliever with you,” Hidan said, licking his lips as he stepped forward.

 

Kakuzu grabbed him by the arm with a flash of movement.  “No. We have another job to do together. You haven’t already forgotten, have you?”

 

“The good news is,” Pain said to Kakuzu, “you can’t kill  _ this _  partner.”

 

“Kakashi!” Tobi cried, sounding wounded as he clasped both hands over his chest.  “You don’t want to be my partner? Don’t you  _ trust _  me?”

 

Kakashi turned to Pain.  “I’m going alone.”

 

“But I thought we were  _ friends _ ,” Tobi wailed.

 

Kakashi was already heading for the metal door, throwing a hand over his shoulder in a dismissive wave.  “I’ll be back soon.”

 

Tobi’s wails echoed so loudly, Kakashi heard them even after the closing of the thick metal door.  Kakashi’s feelings were split between the excitement of a fight with the Hidden Mist’s infamous rogue and the annoying feeling niggling at him that Tobi wouldn’t give up so easily.  Annoying people like him never did.


	4. Hidden in the Mist

Naruto Uzumaki had finally faced his first enemy as a real ninja.  This had been a long-awaited moment, and yet it wasn’t what he expected.  His opponent’s logic made no sense to him. Haku  _ wanted _ Naruto to finish him.  He was willing to die for a man who seemed to be using him.  Only, that wasn’t it. While Yamato-Sensei held up that Hidden Mist rogue swordsman somewhere on the bridge across the dissipating mist, Naruto clenched his fists and stared at the boy with the kekkai genkai who’d given him and Sasuke one hell of a fight.  

 

Sasuke had pulled off something amazing while Naruto was out cold, though Sasuke was down now, looking like there was no life left in him.  But the boy was outmatched between the two of them and seemed at peace with the realization. Naruto wanted to fight, but he didn’t know there’d be no other way than to kill an enemy he actually admired.  Regretfully, Naruto grasped his kunai and charged, intending to honor Haku’s final plea of making it quick. Then, inexplicably, Haku’s head snapped up. His eyes, vacant with resignation, lit with sudden awareness and a choke of shock.  Naruto could hear Yamato-Sensei’s voice with another which could only be Zabuza’s, and somewhere behind that, Sakura’s scream echoing in the mist. 

 

Haku seized Naruto’s kunai just before it met its target.  With the other hand, he weaved a sign. “I cannot die yet,” Haku said before he disappeared from Naruto’s view.

 

Naruto ran after the voices.  He couldn’t watch over Sasuke - there was nothing he could do for him now and Naruto didn’t want to think about that.  He could do something for Sakura if she was in danger. He could help Yamato-Sensei if Zabuza was still a threat. By the time Naruto was close enough to see anything more than vague figures in the mist, he was more confused about the situation than before.  

 

Sakura and the bridge maker they were sent here to protect were nowhere in sight - but knowing Yamato-Sensei’s abilities, Naruto would have to guess they were protected within that large wooden shell behind Yamato-Sensei.  This probably meant that the other man standing behind a wood-wrapped Zabuza in a dark robe, white hair, and with lightning-like chakra leaking from his fist puncturing Zabuza through the back, was no friend. Naruto gasped when he spotted  _ him _ .  Inexplicably, Haku was wedged between Yamato-Sensei and Zabuza with blood leaking from his dainty lips.  A wall of ice towered beside the sandwiched, bleeding shinobi. As Naruto moved closer, he could see the awe-struck look on his sensei’s face.  Yamato-Sensei looked past Haku and Zabuza as their bodies went limp. Yamato-Sensei’s wood withdrew as a bloody stump from the center of Haku’s chest while his focus was set on the newcomer.  

 

Naruto’s breath held in his throat, burning his lungs.  He could see that Yamato-Sensei had killed Haku. Haku had used himself as a shield for the attack meant for Zabuza.  He hadn’t saved him, though. That other man killed Zabuza anyway. 

 

With a grief-stricken yell, Naruto ran forward until he was acknowledged by the turning of everyone’s heads.  Yamato-Sensei’s eyes were wide, his lips set in a scowl as he yelled Naruto’s name and told him to stay back. Naruto’s name was echoed by Sakura’s voice, muffled from within her shell of protection.  The other man shot Naruto a look, one eye a murky gray and the left a red pinwheel that seemed capable of perceiving every minute movement Naruto made. Naruto stilled with a gasp. Whoever this was, Naruto didn’t want to get any closer.  For once, he chose to stop and listen to his Sensei.

 

“Naruto?” the man repeated after Yamato-Sensei, as if testing Naruto’s name on his tongue before his gaze hardened.  “Naruto Uzumaki.”

 

Naruto gulped.  This man knew him somehow.  Even worse, he seemed to consider Naruto with more careful attention than Naruto wanted, as if preparing to say something directly  _ to _ Naruto.

 

Yamato-Sensei gritted his teeth and stepped back from the bodies collapsing together on the bridge.  “Kakashi?” 

 

Yamato-Sensei’s features hardened with the kind of contempt of which Naruto imagined him capable whenever his younger teammates squabbled and he threatened to switch their training to draconian methods.

 

The masked man looked remarkably at ease, in spite of being on the receiving end of  _ that look _ .  “Tenzo.  Long time no see.”

 

“Long time no see?” Yamato-Sensei said incredulously as Naruto furrowed his brows, trying to understand what was happening here.  “What are you doing here, Kakashi? Are you...are you helping me so you can come back to the village? Is that why you-“

 

The Masked Guy laughed.  “I’m not here for  _ you _ \- or your brats,” he said, side-eyeing Naruto.  “The Hokage put you up to taking on a genin squad.  I guess given your abilities, it makes sense.”

 

“Kakashi, I don’t understand,” Yamato-Sensei said, shaking his head.  “Why did you leave? What are you doing for the Akatsuki?”

 

“Right now,” Kakashi said, looking down at Zabuza’s slumped form, “I’m collecting  _ him _ .  Thanks for making it easy for me.”

 

“What do you want with-“ Yamato-Sensei’s eyes snapped from Zabuza to meet the Masked Man.  “You’re collecting  _ bounties _ ?  This is what you abandoned your village for?”

 

“I won’t waste my time explaining my reasons.  Someone like you wouldn’t understand, anyway.”

 

“Kakashi!” Yamato-Sensei said.

 

Naruto licked his dry lips, realizing he’d been gaping while his eyes darted between the two men, hanging on their every word.  In this brief moment of silence, Naruto could tell by their body language that Masked Guy was ready to leave and Yamato-Sensei wanted to stop him.  It was hard to tell whether Yamato-Sensei considered this man a foe or a long lost friend. 

 

Naruto grasped his head and shook violently, hoping to stop the spinning and confusion.  “What the hell’s going on here?”

 

In the moment Yamato-Sensei looked Naruto’s way, Masked Guy scooped up Zabuza’s body and hauled it over his shoulder.  He looked down to the end of the bridge, humming as Yamato-Sensei turned to him. “Well, well,” he said, “this’ll work nicely.”

 

Yamato-Sensei followed his gaze and gasped.  “What-“

 

As Yamato-Sensei called the name  _ Kakashi _ again and lunged at Masked Guy, Naruto recognized the movement of a mob beyond them slowly appearing through the dissipating fog.  They were waiting at the end of the bridge.  _ They _ were the reason Team 7 needed to protect the bridge builder in the first place, the people who hired Zabuza and Haku.  Something whirled in the corner of Naruto’s vision, distorting the air, and he stuttered, turning his eyes to where Masked Guy had stood with Zabuza slung over his shoulder and now seemed to disappear into an invisible vortex with his eyes just as wide and surprised as Naruto’s had to be.

 

“Woah!” Naruto cried.

 

As Yamato-Sensei huffed and stared into the now-empty air, the wooden tomb behind him opened to reveal Sakura and Old Man Tazuna, looking as confused and astounded as Naruto felt, but not nearly as defeated.   That’s when Naruto saw the other man - standing against the rail of the bridge, wearing a full orange mask and the same robes as Masked Guy -  _ another _ Masked Guy!  Yamato-Sensei’s head snapped from the second Masked Guy disappearing before their eyes to look to the mob, his shoulders stiffening.

 

“Naruto,” he said, “let me handle this.  Is Sasuke…?”

 

“Sasuke?” Sakura cried with hope in her voice, clasping her hands together as she looked Naruto’s way.  “What’s going on? Naruto! Did Sasuke win?”

 

“Sakura…” Naruto grumbled, his shoulders sagging as the thought of telling her Sasuke died protecting him stole all the energy from his body.

 

Sakura grunted, darting instinctively in the direction of Sasuke and the scene of Naruto’s concluded battle as worry appeared on her face.  She stopped herself, casting a cursory glance to the old man frowning sympathetically at her back.

 

“How about we go together, Sakura?” Tazuna said, offering Sakura his hand.  “Then you don’t have to leave me and go against your Sensei.”

 

“Oh, thank you!” Sakura said, grasping his hand and wasting no time running toward Sasuke with Old Man Tazuna in tow.

 

Naruto didn’t stop her.  If the battle cry from the angry mob at the other end of the bridge wasn’t enough to stop him, the imagined look on Sakura’s face put a stop to any impulse Naruto might’ve had to go that way.  Sakura wouldn’t take his word for it anyway. She had to see it for herself. And even though Yamato-Sensei told Naruto to stay out of it, Naruto found it hard to believe that even his impressive Sensei was going to take on that entire mob by himself.  Naruto wanted to be prepared to back him up.

 

When Naruto ran to meet his Sensei, Sakura’s cries from the other side of the bridge fueled his waning energy.  Her cries had transformed from cries of mourning to cheers of relief while Yamato-Sensei ended his dialogue with the mob leader.  He mounted a single-handed attack on the mob, chasing most of them off. Naruto jumped into the fight, targeting the more stubborn hired men who stuck around.  The fight was exhausting. Naruto had never felt more chakra-spent. The gang succumbed in the end, agreeing to allow Tazuna to finish his project after watching their leader get tossed off the bridge in front of them.  Sakura returned with Tazuna  _ and _ Sasuke.

 

She reported blissfully that Sasuke was fine.

 

The only part of all this that had ended horribly was Zabuza and Haku’s deaths - Zabuza not even being left behind to be properly buried, thanks to those mysterious Masked Guys in the weird red and black robes.  At least the team was able to bury Haku, and when they said a few words for him and Zabuza, it inexplicably started to snow, like Haku was watching over them.

 

When it was all over, Naruto tapped Yamato-Sensei’s shoulder.  “Hey, hey,” he said. “Yamato-Sensei. Is it strange that I...well, I liked those guys?”

 

Yamato-Sensei glanced over his shoulder, raising an incredulous brow.  “You liked those men we had to throw off the bridge?”

 

Naruto groaned and scrunched his face.  “Aw. You know who I mean.”

 

“Haku and Zabuza,” Yamato-Sensei said, almost reverently.  “I liked them, too.”

 

“You did?”  Naruto brightened.

 

“Yeah,” Yamato-Sensei said, though his tone was a gloomy contrast to Naruto’s.

 

Naruto’s smile fell.  “You’re thinkin’ about that other guy.  The one who showed up first in the mask and the weird robe?”

 

Yamato-Sensei nodded.

 

“You know him, right?”

 

“I thought I did,” Yamato-Sensei said.

 

Naruto expected more, and when Yamato-Sensei didn’t say anything, Naruto grunted and crossed his arms.  If his Sensei was holding anything back about that guy, Naruto felt he should know. The first guy at least seemed to take an interest in  _ him _ , after all.  Naruto needed to know if he was in any danger here.

 

“Yamato-Sensei!” Naruto scolded at his silence.

 

Yamato-Sensei smiled over his shoulder, his eyes darting farther back to where Sakura and Sasuke followed with Tazuna.  “Hey! I saw a nice ramen place on the way here. How about we all stop and celebrate Team 7’s first A-rank mission completed?”

 

Naruto’s eyes lit, his mouth already watering at the irresistible suggestion.  “Yeah!”

 

“And my  _ bridge _ being free to be completed!” Tazuna added.  “I’ll buy. It’s the least I can do to thank you all.”

 

“Oh, boy!” Naruto leapt high and pumped a fist in the air, anticipating a big meal now that he expected no limits.  He really had completed his first mission. He was a real ninja, not just some kid hunting for lost cats anymore. And Sakura and Sasuke both came out of the mission okay, too.

 

“Hey, Yamato-Sensei!” Naruto said.  “Can we go on another A-rank mission soon?”

 

Yamato-Sensei sputtered.  “Naruto! We’re lucky we all made it out of  _ this _ one alive!  We’re taking something more at your level for the next mission.”

 

Naruto groaned, but he didn’t bother to argue.  It had been a long day, and his mind was drifting to thoughts of ramen, delicious and steaming bowls of it just waiting for him as a reward for all his hard work today.  He didn’t think again of Sasuke’s near-death, or Yamato-Sensei’s gloomy attitude, or the mystery behind the Masked Guys. He thought a little of Haku and Zabuza, but the negative thoughts couldn’t stay with him long.  He was too busy filling his stomach and fulfilling his dream of becoming a ninja.

 

* * *

 

Kakashi was dizzy.  Not only physically, but mentally.  After his surroundings spun out of existence, the world seemed to re-materialize around him, only different. He was in a dark place, surrounded by gray cubes without a sky or ground in sight.  He’d never been here before, and yet this place felt strangely familiar. Kakashi was award of Zabuza’s dead weight still perched on his shoulder, but he was even more acutely aware of the other presence behind him.

 

“Nice job getting Zabuza,” Tobi said, too cheerfully, “but I wish you would’ve waited for me.  We’re supposed to be a  _ team _ , remember?”

 

“Tobi,” Kakashi said, lowering his headband over his Sharingan.  He stopped himself, about to tell Tobi he didn’t have time for his nonsense, but a different comment flew from his mouth.  “Where are we?”

 

“Ah…” Tobi cooed, his robes flapping as he moved exuberantly behind Kakashi, “you like the place?  Or...you  _ might _ know it already.”

 

Tobi passed into Kakashi’s field of view, hopping gracefully onto one of the gray blocks in front of Kakashi before folding his legs in front of him and falling into a cross-legged sitting position.

 

“Why do you think I’d know this place?” Kakashi asked suspiciously.

 

Tobi wasn’t entirely wrong with his supposition.  More than a memory, there was a feeling tied to this place, like Kakashi could’ve come here at any time, or been here in a dream.  He  _ had _ been here in dreams, he realized, his eyes widening.  He’d seen the air swirl into a whirlpool before whisking something away with it, too.  He’d made it happen once, almost unintentionally, with his Sharingan. Somehow, this place was tied to his eye’s power he’d felt for a long time now, but hesitated to use because he wasn’t sure how his non-Uchiha body would handle it.  Kakashi knew, instinctively, that if he used his dormant mangekyo Sharingan, it would bring objects, and apparently people, here. But then...how had  _ Tobi _ delivered them here?  He was clearly an Uchiha - Kakashi saw the previously-concealed Sharingan peering from behind his mask - but no two Sharingan shared the same time space.  Tobi was supposed to be a nobody with no special jutsu, not an Uchiha.

 

Tobi watched Kakashi think this through, not saying a word for once, but swaying side to side like a child waiting to be picked to play next.  Somehow, this felt more ominous to Kakashi than if he’d been outright threatening. A cold sweat formed beneath Kakashi’s layers of cloak and clothing.

 

“Figured it out yet?” Tobi said, stilling.  His voice deepened in comparison to its usual shrill tone.  “If we’re going to be partners, you and I need to have a talk, Kakashi.  I know you’re too smart not to figure it out sooner than I’d like you to, and I’m not ready to let my secret out, so I decided this is the place where we can keep this between us.”

 

Kakashi raised his brows, his heart thumping in his chest as a possibility rose in his mind and was quickly squashed.  It was impossible. Only Obito Uchiha’s eyes could deliver them to this timespace, Kamui. The only acceptable conclusion that made any sense was that this man must’ve stolen the remaining eye from his dead friend.

 

“Keep  _ what _ between us?” Kakashi said hostilely.

 

* * *

 

Hiruzen ran his fingers over the coarse hairs of his bearded chin, eyeing the team returning to his office to report on the outcome of their first big mission.  He expected some excitement on the children’s part - it was typical of young ninja - but the wide eyes and tension emanating from their  _ leader _ was unexpected.  The mission was only C-rank.  It shouldn’t have phased a past ANBU operative like Tenzo in the least.  Hiruzen had expected him to return bored, not looking like he’d seen a ghost.

 

He cleared his throat, hoping the cause for the team’s apparent anxiety was nothing serious.  “Were you able to escort the bridge builder?”

 

“Yes,” Tenzo said slowly, before Naruto interrupted.

 

“And more than that, Old Man!” Naruto said, grinning.  “We fought our first real enemy. Rogue ninjas, ya know!”

 

“Rogue ninjas?” Hiruzen gasped.

 

The girl, Sakura, swung her fist and clonked Naruto in the head, causing the boy to shout and throw his hands up defensively as she said, “Idiot!  Shut up!”

 

“It’s  _ Lord Hokage _ , Naruto!” Tenzo hissed, casting Hiruzen an apologetic smile.  “Mr. Tazuna wasn’t entirely forthcoming when he submitted his request to the village.”

 

“He had a whole gang out to assassinate him, Lord Hokage,” Sakura said, too sweetly for a girl who’d just mauled her teammate.

 

“And a hired pair of S-class rogues,” Tenzo said with a sigh, meeting Hiruzen’s gaze with a look that could only be described as pleading, conveying that there was something more.

 

Sasuke huffed, which Hiruzen took as an agreement, and another sign that there was more to the story.  But the boy remained glaring at his teammates, saying no more. They all looked a little beat up, come to think of it.  Hiruzen had never  _ seen _ Tenzō look so worn.  He didn’t just look tired physically, but emotionally, which was rare for a ROOT-raised ninja like him.

 

Hiruzen clasped his hands beneath his chin, leaning across his desk.  “And your team... _ succeeded _ at this mission?”

 

“The mission was a success, Lord Hokage,” Tenzo said mechanically, his eyes shifting to his students.  “There  _ is _ another matter I’d like to discuss with you alone, though.”

 

“Aww!” Naruto groaned, stomping his foot and whirling around to point a rigid finger at his Sensei.  “You’re not gonna tell him about that guy without us, are you? The one with the mask and the one red eye?”

 

Hiruzen tensed, immediately recognizing the description as only one person.  Kakashi Hatake couldn’t have approached Naruto Uzumaki. It was too soon for that.  Hiruzen knew eventually, the Akatsuki would target the boy for the nine tails, but he expected years to prepare before they made their move.  The boy wasn’t prepared for it. Tenzō had a lot of work ahead of him with honing Naruto’s skills, and now it seemed with the Akatsuki on their trail, his time was limited.

 

“Naruto!” Tenzo hissed.

 

“What?” Naruto shook his fist.  “I wanna know!”

 

“So do I,” Sasuke said, peering at Hiruzen with one hand on his hip.  “I didn’t even have a chance to see this Masked Guy this loser keeps yammering about.”

 

“Yeah, Yamato-Sensei,” Sakura said, smiling at Sasuke, “I thought you were going to tell us what happened back there on the bridge.”

 

Tenzō casted Hiruzen another imploring gaze.  “Please, Lord Hokage.”

 

Hiruzen nodded with an acceding grunt.  He waved the children away, prompting his ANBU flanking his desk to escort them toward the door.

 

“Hey!” the kids cried, Naruto loudest of all of them, but Sasuke and Sakura looking equally put-out as they flailed toward the door.

 

Hiruzen sighed as the deserting party closed the door behind them.  He could still hear Naruto’s muffled complaints from behind the door, which were understandable if Kakashi had given Naruto any indication of interest.

 

He looked into Tenzo’s eyes now that they were alone, to see the somber expression of a man who’d had a rough mission.  “What was he doing there, Yamato?”

 

“Kakashi...he was after a bounty,” Tenzo said with a sigh.  “It was him and another man I couldn’t identify, who whisked Kakashi and his target both away before I could do anything.”

 

“A common enemy?”

 

Tenzō shook his head.  “He wore Akatsuki robes.  Kakashi didn’t seem to be working  _ with _ him, but he recognized him before they both disappeared.”

 

“What bounty was Kakashi after?”

 

“Zabuza Momochi.”

 

Hiruzen gasped.  “ _ That’s _ who you encountered on your mission?”

 

“Yes. Him and a young rogue with a powerful kekkai genkai.”

 

Hiruzen sputtered.  “You were able to handle all that?”

 

Tenzō sighed.  “I could only take one on at a time.  While I handled Zabuza, Naruto and Sasuke were nearly killed.”

 

“Nearly…” Hiruzen said, his eyes widening as he realized the two developments those boys could’ve used to save themselves, hoping for one more than the other, fearing them both.  He guessed for the lesser of the two evils. “Sasuke awakened his Sharingan?”

 

“Yes,” Tenzo said, relieving Hiruzen’s fear only briefly before adding, “and Naruto-“

 

“No!” Hiruzen’s eyes widened, but he wasn’t arguing with Tenzō.  He believed him. He just didn’t want the possibility of another nine tails encounter like the last one.  Hiruzen raised a hand before Tenzō could go on. “So the Akatsuki didn’t send Kakashi after the nine tails?”

 

“No,” Tenzō said.  “He explicitly said he wasn’t interested in Naruto.  He  _ did _ seem like he wanted to say something to him at one point, though.  You don’t think he would-“

 

“Tell him who his father was?” Hiruzen guessed, reaching for his pipe.  “Tell him about the nine tails? To be honest, I still can’t believe Kakashi Hatake left the Hidden Leaf.  He had so much promise.” He shook his head and lit his pipe. “There’s no predicting what he’ll do now.”

 

Tenzō frowned, lowering his head and his eyes to the ground.  “Should we pull Naruto off missions for-“

 

After a long, soothing drag from his pipe, Hiruzen blew it out and said,  “One of my old students wrote to me that he’s planning a return to the Hidden Leaf.  I’ll ask him to come earlier and lend us a hand with Naruto.”

 

“Your…” Tenzo’s eyes widened.  “You mean…?”

 

Hiruzen gave a nod and held out his smoking pipe.  “In the meantime, I don’t want your team alerted of any problems having to do with Kakashi Hatake, Itachi Uchiha, or  _ any _ of the Akatsuki.  In place of missions, we’ll focus their efforts on training for the upcoming chunin exams.”

 

“ _ Chunin _ exams?” Tenzo asked skeptically, pressing his hands to his hips.  “You think those three are ready for that? I mean, maybe Sasuke-“

 

“ _ That’s _ why you’re starting their training early!  It’ll be the perfect diversion.”

 

“Still,” Tenzo huffed, running a hand through his hair with a grimace.  “I don’t see Naruto or even the other two letting this go. They’ll want to know-“

 

“Yes, I know,” Hiruzen said as he pursed his lips around the pipe and drew more smoke into his lungs.  “You’ll have to give them something. Tell them the bare minimum about Kakashi Hatake, and nothing more.  Don’t mention the Akatsuki.”

 

Tenzō nodded, his gaze pensive.  Hiruzen blew smoke and watched it whirl toward the ceiling in a dazzling display.  He had nothing more to say on this matter. He trusted Tenzo’s discretion regarding Kakashi’s background.  He knew the man would do what he could to protect those children. Tenzō seemed just as content to not say any more on the matter.  He bowed, stepped toward the door, and met Hiruzen’s gaze one last time before turning to leave. Hiruzen took one more drag of smoke as he heard the door shut, leaving him alone for a rare moment.  

 

The Akatsuki had big plans, and they wouldn’t hold off forever.  The Hidden Leaf had to be ready before they acted.


	5. Prepared

Kakashi couldn’t breathe.  

 

He had to be having another nightmare.  He hadn’t felt like this since he was a kid, washing away the stains of Rin’s blood on his hands, alone in hell with no understanding of why these horrors had happened to him and his friends.  His friends who had died in a war in which they had no business fighting. But that wasn’t right. His  _ friend _ was standing right in front of him, all grown up and bitter.  Nothing like the Obito Uchiha Kakashi remembered. But Kakashi’s Sharingan didn’t lie.  There was no doubt this half-scarred, glaring one-eyed face was the matured face of his old comrade.

 

Obito put the mask back on.  “Pull yourself together, Kakashi.  You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

 

Kakashi tried to recall the words Obito had said to him while revealing himself, but it was like he’d heard them from underwater, their meaning consumed and deformed by the churning rush of noise in his head.  Obito was standing in front of him. He couldn’t  _ talk _ to Obito.  He’d been talking to Obito at a marked grave for years.  This Obito couldn’t be real. If he  _ was _ real, Kakashi might regret his decision to leave the Hidden Leaf.  One of the greatest reasons this world was hell was because comrades always died.  But Obito hadn’t. Even moreso, if the words he was speaking now were true, Minato-Sensei was only dead  _ because _ of Obito.  Kakashi didn’t know this Obito.

 

“Obito,” was all Kakashi could gather to say.

 

“What?” Obito taunted.  “You want to tell me what a piece of trash I am for killing our Sensei?  Doesn’t matter. You’re the _worst_ kind of trash for letting Rin die when you’d promised you’d protect her. I did what I thought was necessary to bring about change in this world.”

 

“The nine tails attack killed half the people in our village,” Kakashi said, feeling numb, before shaking his head.  “Obito. The Obito I knew would never harm the Hidden Leaf. He wanted to become Hokage!”

 

“That was never going to happen, and you know it.  It was a stupid dream like all the others in this world, bound to be broken and destroyed at some point.  The fact that you’re here in this organization proves to me that you agree, Kakashi. Don’t bother to get self-righteous on me now.  I’ve seen the way you’ve operated these past years with us.”

 

“Maybe so,” Kakashi said, unable to disagree with the sentiment, but stunned hearing those words spoken from the mouth of the boy who once dreamed bigger than anyone Kakashi had ever met.  “But why do  _ you _ see it that way?  Why didn’t you come forward  _ before _ if you survived Kannabi Bridge?”

 

“Mainly because you let Rin die,” Obito said with even more acid in his tone than his words.  “Without her, I had no reason. There was nothing in this world for me.”

 

Kakashi bowed his head.  He couldn’t agree with that sentiment more.  “There’s been nothing for me in this world for a long time.”

 

“I know,” Obito said, almost sympathetically.  

 

His hand reached out.  Kakashi flinched. Obito’s hand landed on Kakashi’s shoulder, the familiar touch something too warm and welcome in this moment.  Kakashi half-expected Obito to follow the touch with an attack, and at this point, Kakashi’d  _ welcome  _ Obito hitting him.  Now that Rin was on his mind again, he felt he deserved it.  So many times when he’d thought about Rin, he’d wished someone would end his miserable life.  He’d gone into battle time and time again thinking it might finally happen, but no one ever succeeded at killing him.  Only the people around him ever fell. Kakashi looked up, surprised when nothing happened but the continued pressure of a companionable hand resting on his shoulder.

 

“What we’re working toward here, Kakashi,” Obito said quietly, “will fix everything.  We can both be with Rin again. You can be with the old Obito, if you’d like.”

 

Kakashi raised his gaze to meet the one red eye staring at him from behind a mask.  “What’s wrong with the current one?”

 

“The Obito you remember died at Kannabi Bridge,” Obito said.  “You can’t think of me as him any longer. For now, I’m Tobi. No one in the Akatsuki or especially  _ outside _ of it is to be the wiser.  When the time comes to reveal myself, I’ll go by another name, and I expect you to play along.”

 

“What name?” Kakashi asked.

 

“When the time comes,” Obito repeated.

 

“Obito!” Kakashi sensed this conversation was ending, but he still had so much more to say to his old friend, as Obito, not as Tobi.

 

“Tobi,” Obito corrected.

 

“Obito,” Kakashi asserted through clenched teeth.  “If we’re going to be partners, know that I can put up a false front in front of everyone else and play along with your stupid name game, but when it’s just the two of us, you’re Obito.  I’ll never be able to not see you as Obito.”

 

“I wish you wouldn’t,” Obito said.  “You might build up hope somewhere in that stubborn mind of yours.  A hope we don’t need.”

 

Kakashi laughed wryly.  “I left hope behind a long time ago, Obito.  Remembering who you are has nothing to do with hope.”  When Obito‘s head snapped to meet Kakashi’s gaze, Kakashi narrowed his eyes.  “It’s a powerful reminder of how hope has died. To see someone with as many dreams for the future as the old you to have fallen so far, I know there really is no more hope for the rest of us.”

 

Obito scoffed, studied Kakashi, and then turned to heave Zabuza’s discarded body up from the ground.  He turned to Kakashi, seeming bemused, before turning away again.

 

“Do you know how to take us out of here?” Obito asked.

 

“Honestly,” Kakashi said, “I don’t.  I’ve been hesitant about using Kamui.”

 

“You’re not Uchiha,” Obito said, nodding.  “It’ll be interesting to see how your body handles it.”

 

“I’ll try it,” Kakashi said, furrowing his brows as he concentrated chakra into his eye.

 

“I suggest you do,” Obito said.  “If that eye doesn’t prove most useful where it is, I might want to take it back.”

 

As Kakashi felt the mangekyou come on, his Sharingan spinning to life, he casted a sideways glance at Obito.  “You don’t want to threaten  _ me _ , Obito.”

 

This might’ve been his old childhood friend, but just as Obito had been an irresponsible screwup in the past, he was a cruel bastard currently, letting Kakashi suffer unknowing the way he had these last few years.  He clearly considered Kakashi disposable - nothing but a tool. Kakashi couldn’t help but feel the same way about him. He was willing to work alongside Obito  _ only _ in the name of achieving this goal of a new reality.  The new reality had to be achieved at any cost. The Kamui dimension spun Obito and Zabuza’s corpse into a whirl of fading colors as Kakashi’s eye burned, pulsing with the power it used to send himself along with them back to their dimension.  It drained Kakashi’s chakra rapidly until he fell to one knee.

 

He could hardly move in the hours following that, but at least Kakashi returned to their world knowing he and his partner saw eye to eye.

 

* * *

 

Jiraiya didn’t like this.  

 

This  _ kid _ was a handful.  But to some extent, his antics were endearing.  It wasn’t only Naruto’s pestering and humiliating nickname grating on Jiraiya’s nerves since his return to the Hidden Leaf.  It was what he’d heard from Sarutobi-Sensei that disturbed him most. Kakashi Hatake and a promising young Uchiha  _ both _ had left the Hidden Leaf in recent years to join the Akatsuki rogue organization spreading ominous rumors far and wide.  The very same organization Orochimaru had joined and subsequently abandoned. Whatever the deal was with this group, it was serious.  

 

Jiraiya never imagined himself on the bad side of a fight with Orochimaru, not to mention the boy prodigy Kakashi Hatake someday.  But now they both were threats, coming from different directions. It was known already that Orochimaru had started scouting the Hidden Leaf for whatever  _ his _ purpose was.  Whatever he was planning, it couldn’t be good.  Orochimaru wasn’t the same Orochimaru Jiraiya trained with back in their genin days.  He’d been swallowed up in darkness - the same darkness Jiraiya suspected must’ve consumed Kakashi Hatake for him to decide to desert the Hidden Leaf.

 

Jiraiya didn’t know much about the gifted Uchiha boy who’d murdered his own clan, but Kakashi Hatake?   _ Sakumo’s _ son?  At one time, Jiraiya had envisioned Minato’s former student as a future mentor for Minato’s orphan.  He thought Kakashi could have a lot to teach the kid. But it seemed the duty of passing on Minato’s legacy to Naruto fell on Jiraiya’s shoulders now.  He wouldn’t let Minato down. It was essential that Naruto learn to control his chakra, to control the nine tails before  _ its _ power overtook him.  Jiraiya shook his head and sighed.  He’d really come home to a mess. It was a good thing Sarutobi-Sensei had called him back early.

 

“Hey, hey!” Naruto’s voice cut through Jiraiya’s thoughts.  “What’s gotten into you, Pervy Sage? You became all serious all of a sudden, ya know.” He pushed aside the bushes and peeked through.  “The girls didn’t leave, did they?”

 

“Wha- no!” Jiraiya said, his eyes chasing the girls who scampered off squealing at the sound of Naruto’s voice.  “Naruto, now look what you did! You’re ruining my research.”

 

“Good,” Naruto said with a devious chuckle.  “Now ya can get back to focusing on my summoning training, right?”

 

Jiraiya heaved a sigh, his shoulders sagging in defeat now that the women had deserted their little wet oasis.  “I guess so.” He ruffled Naruto’s blonde hair so much like Minato’s, getting a groan from the kid. “Have you made  _ any _ progress yet?”

 

“Yeah, I have!” Naruto said indignantly before his cheeks flushed pink.  “A little,” he said faintly.

 

Jiraiya shook his head and waved for Naruto to proceed.  This was going to be another long afternoon. He needed to push through this, though.  With rogues out there like Orochimaru and the Akatsuki, including the dangerous members Jiraiya knew of as well as those _unknowns_ undoubtedly acquired from neighboring lands, Naruto needed to have the best defense he could get.  Jiraiya could only hope his training and guidance would be enough.

 

* * *

 

Pain said they were ready for their next move. As of late, however, Kakashi had gained the distinct impression that it was _Obito_ was really  pulling the strings around here.  He was too calm, too calculated whenever they met in their realm.  He always seemed to know what was next, even better than Kakashi could predict it - and Obito had never been good at deducing _anything_.  It was another cruel reminder that Kakashi didn’t know this Obito.  Either way, the plan of destroying and rebuilding the world, whoever’s it was, would come to fruition with Kakashi’s help.  So many people were going to die, and they didn’t even know it.

 

Such was the way of this world.

 

Kakashi couldn’t let the unavoidable deaths and pain upset him.  It was only temporary. Besides, he’d done more than his fair share of grieving in this life.  He would grieve those he lost no more, because soon, they could live again. If this massive statue Pain brought them to see was any indication of the plan’s chances of success, Kakashi had absolute faith this would work.  The Gedo Statue was a monster; unmoving and staring without eyes. It would have its eyes soon, and then, it would look even more formidable.

 

“While those two retrieve our first target in the Hidden Stone,” Pain was saying to them while Kakashi studied the statue’s grotesque face, its gaping jaws and jagged teeth, “we will wait here to begin the extraction.  It will take every one of us, and I feel this first one may take the longest and the most effort.”

 

“How long?” Deidara asked, raising his brow.

 

“As long as it takes.  Sasori,” Pain said as he turned to the crouched puppet harboring a skilled ninja beneath its shell, “have you heard from your spy?  Are we-“

 

“He has no idea where we are, or what we’ve started yet,” Sasori said, his masked puppet face forming a wry smile.  “He seems to be too wrapped up in his own plans to care  _ what _ we do.”

 

“Good,” Pain said.

 

Kakashi stared lazily at Sasori, feigning indifference to the conversation.  He knew Itachi’s eyes were on him, looking for a reaction. He felt Obito's gaze as well.  Kakashi couldn’t trust them. He couldn’t trust any of these men, even if they were all working toward the same goal.  That didn’t mean one of them wouldn’t want to kill  _ him _ before this was over.  Kakashi didn’t fear his death, but he did tremble at the thought of dying before completing this mission.  If it happened, it wouldn’t be the first time an Akatsuki member took another’s life.  It was highly likely he wouldn't live to see this mission to the end.

 

If Kakashi had to guess who this spy of Sasori's was, he hadn’t a clue.  He didn’t know enough about Sasori’s history. He did, however, suspect who the target of this intel was.  There were only so many notable rogue ninja alive who were not part of the Akatsuki. And Kakashi had heard passing mention of  _ the snake _ here and there.  Orochimaru. Kakashi remembered his own first terrifying encounter with the man and understood the cause for Pain’s concern, especially since the legendary sannin had once belonged to  _ this _ organization.

 

So now Kakashi had more to be wary of; the other Akatsuki, his Leaf-loyal enemies who would no doubt block his attempts to capture the jinchuriki when his assignment came,  _ and _ Orochimaru.

 

“Which team will you send next?” Kakashi asked, breaking the thick silence of the cave.

 

Pain’s eyes traveled to Kakashi, vacant and unreadable.  Kakashi didn’t like his eyes, and it wasn’t just because of the eerie power of the Rinnegan behind them.  He didn’t like any of the Pains’ eyes. Looking into the eyes of a corpse and knowing it was seeing right through you wasn't something to which one became accustomed.  From the tower where the real Pain remained holed up in the Hidden Rain, Pain watched perpetually through their sets of eyes, with Konan advising by his side, no doubt.

 

“Kakuzu and Hidan," Pain finally said.  "After they’re done collecting our reward money from the tsuchikage, I’ll send them to retrieve the girl we’ve identified as the Seven Tails’ jinchuriki.”

 

There was something left unsaid here.  Kakuzu and Hidan had to be the pair  _ least _ committed to the cause of the organization, and the most volatile personalities.  Pain likely elected to send them as one of the first because they were most expendable to the organization, and at the same time, least likely to be at risk of dying.  The immortal pair were unstoppable together. Then again, it was interesting that they were his choice for the  _ second _ tailed beast.  Kakashi, on the other hand, would’ve sent Zetsu, the black and the white.  He hated that perpetual eavesdropper. Or he’d send Hidan alone, if only the yapping religious zealot  _ could _ die.  Still, Kakashi was wary of what Pain’s decisions meant for him.

 

“And then?” Kakashi asked.

 

“For now,” Pain said, “the rest of us will prepare for the extraction Jutsu and Zetsu will focus on our coordination efforts, since we’ll be working from separate parts of the world from now on.  You each should set up a safeguarded hideout where you’ll be ready to take your jinchuriki without being disturbed.”

  
Kakashi looked across the cave to Obito.  He knew his masked friend likely already had a place in mind for the task - Obito  _ had _ been working toward this longer.  When Kakashi thought about  _ how _  much longer Obito had been working toward it, it made his insides churn.  Kakashi couldn’t stand this world where friends betrayed and abandoned.  Everything tainted by love was bound to spoil to hatred.  He only had to look past the orange mask, into Obito's calloused eye to remind himself of how rotten anything good in this world could become.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really appreciate the comments I've received so far. You can probably tell by now the direction I'm taking this story, to let it follow canon events but how they would play out differently with Kakashi on the other side. I altered a little bit of the summary/tags when I posted this chapter too, because as I posted, I noticed some things that should be pointed out. The jump to teen rating I think was necessary because of Kakashi's general outlook in this story, not because of any events differing drastically from canon. Anyway, thank you for reading and I hope you don't mind that this was a short chapter!


	6. Meeting

 

Sakura was drinking the saddest cup of tea she’d ever had.  

 

The village around her was slowing picking up from the devastation invoked by Orochimaru and the Hidden Sound’s attack, but outside the cafe window, Sakura still saw busted walls and black passing forms of people dressed in mourning.  They’d lost so many people and were now left without even a Hokage to protect the village. The chunin exams had been an absolute disaster.

 

Worst of all, Sasuke was in bad shape.  Yamato-Sensei claimed he’d done something to help with the curse mark, but Sasuke didn't seem better to Sakura.  If anything, his _mood_ was worse.  Naruto kept asking about him, but Sakura had sworn her secrecy about the curse mark to Sasuke.  It was understandable that Sasuke was feeling down. On top of the current sad state of the village, Sasuke had lost his match when he couldn’t use his chakra without hurting himself.  He’d just been released from the hospital and Sakura was dying to see him walking around, looking better than he had the last time she saw him.

 

The team was supposed to meet here, but only Sakura and Yamato-Sensei had arrived early.  As Sensei ordered tea for himself and the boys, Sakura sipped from her cup, peering through the curtain of rising steam to see a pair of cloaked figures passing through the street.  Large hats and white fringe hid what parts of their faces she might’ve seen through the swirling haze. One man was incredibly tall. Sakura knew without even seeing his face that she’d never seen anyone like him in the Hidden Leaf before.  As she leaned forward, peering after the pair as they passed, the door of the cafe swung open.

 

Naruto bursted into the room, loud and boisterous as usual.  “Hey, Yamato-Sensei! Sakura!” he called, raising a hand to his forehead protector as he spanned the room with a squinty-eyed gaze while Sakura’s temple throbbed with annoyance.  “Where’s Sasuke?”

 

“Oh, uh…” Yamato-Sensei said beside the table, snapping his gaze from the windows to smile down at Sakura as he set down three more clinking, porcelain cups.  “Why don’t you two stay here and wait for him? I’ll go out and have a look in case he got distracted.”

 

Sakura narrowed her eyes as Naruto plopped down beside her.  As she watched Yamato-Sensei head out the door and turn in the direction those two men were headed, she tapped her finger on the table.  Something strange was going on here.

 

“Sakura!  Sakura!” Naruto said, waving his hand in her face.

 

Sakura turned with a growl, raising her fist before slamming it down on top of Naruto’s annoying head.  “What?”

 

“Ow…” Naruto grumbled as he cradled his head in both hands.  “What was _that_ for?”

 

“Hey,” Sakura said, shifting her attention back to the window and ignoring Naruto’s irritating glare, “did you see those guys in the weird robes?  I’ve never seen them before. I think Yamato-Sensei went after them.”

 

“No, I-“ Naruto blinked.  “Wait. Weird robes?”

 

“Yeah, with like,” Sakura circled her hand in the air as she tried to think of how to describe the red cloud-like patterns, “red-“

 

“Clouds?” Naruto exclaimed, practically jumping on the table.

 

Sakura yanked him down by the back of his shirt.  “Will you sit down? You’re embarrassing me!”

 

People were staring, and as Sakura shot a look around the cafe, she saw that she knew some people here.  That weird Guy-Sensei they’d met at the chunin exams was here with his team with the exception of Rock Lee, who emulated his sensei’s bizarre style and had an inconvenient crush on Sakura, yet was still in the hospital after his crippling battle with Gaara of the Sand.  As the door swung inward, Sakura spied Ino entering with Choji and Shikamaru. Sakura immediately crossed her arms and turned her back stiffly to the door.

 

“Oh, man!” Naruto said, clenching his teeth as he looked to the doorway, ignorant of Ino’s presence.  “I wonder if Yamato-Sensei ran off to fight those masked guys.”

 

“Masked Guys?” Sakura said, curious about the name and to whom exactly Naruto was referring now.

 

“Is that the best you can do now, Sakura?” Ino chided from behind her.  “Masked Guys? I guess you’ve given up on Sasuke, seeing that he didn’t bother to meet you here.”

 

“So what if Sasuke’s not here?” Sakura yelled, whirling around to shake a fist in Ino’s smug face.  “He’s not supposed to be here right now anyway. And even if he was, you can bet he wouldn’t step one foot in the door once _your_ pig face scared him away!”

 

Ino’s eyes exploded with rage.  “Forehead!”

 

Sakura harrumphed as Ino whirled on her heels and stomped out of the cafe.  If that old crappy nickname was the best counter Ino could come up with, Sakura knew she had her beat.  Now that she looked at the empty doorway though, seeing no foot traffic outside that resembled Sasuke, Ino’s teasing _was_ getting to her a little.  What was holding Sasuke up?  Sakura hoped he was okay. Her eyes widened.  Maybe he wasn’t.

 

“Naruto!” Sakura said, seizing Naruto by the collar of his orange jacket.  “Those Masked Guys of yours...you don’t think they’re after Sasuke, do you?”

 

“Sasuke?” Naruto scoffed.  “What would they want with _him_?  He’s nothing special.”

 

Sakura released Naruto to clasp her hands together.  Naruto’s words were far from reassuring. “What if they are?  Didn’t you say before that one of them had a Sharingan? What if he wants another one, and now that Sasuke has awakened his, he came here to steal it?”

 

“Steal his _eye_?” Naruto balked and stuck out his tongue.  “That’s gross, ya know!”

 

“I have to help Yamato-Sensei protect Sasuke!” Sakura said, shooting off her chair and reaching for the doorway.

 

Naruto’s hand grasped her arm and tugged her back to the table.  “Hey. Sasuke’s fine, Sakura. See?”

 

He pointed out the window and to the left, and there Sakura finally saw him.  Sasuke’s black hair fell smoothly around his flawless face as his dark eyes perceived every person around him with hardly any effort as he walked.  Sakura swooned. He was so cool. And he was coming her way. He was finally joining them for tea! Sakura felt heat rush to her face as she thought, _eat that Ino, pig!  Sasuke_ does _want to share tea with me._

 

“He’s coming!” Sakura practically squealed.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Naruto grumbled before adding bitterly, “I don’t see what’s the big deal.  Besides, I want to know what happened with the Masked Guys, ya know. I bet Sasuke will, too.  Hey, Sasuke!”

 

Sasuke was just slipping through the door when Naruto called to him.  Now that he was finally here, his attention was fully on stupid Naruto.  His dark eyes skimmed up and down Naruto, not even seeing Sakura. Sakura groaned.

 

“What do you want, loser?”

 

“Yamato-Sensei went after some guys.  Wanna see if it’s the Masked Guys from Naruto Bridge?”

 

Sakura snorted.  Naruto Bridge. She still couldn’t believe those townspeople actually named the bridge in Naruto’s honor.  He’d really charmed them, somehow. When she heard Sasuke scoff, Sakura was slightly reassured. At least she knew he agreed with her assessment.

 

“Those guys were rogue ninja,” Sasuke said, flipping his hair from his eyes.  “They couldn’t possibly get into the Hidden Leaf Village undetected.”

 

“Uh, hello?” Naruto waved his hands in a broad gesture.  “We’ve just been attacked. Maybe they haven’t reinforced the barrier yet.”

 

“Oh,” Sakura breathed, realizing Naruto had a point.

 

“Idiot,” Sasuke said.  “Restoring the barrier is the first thing they’d do.”

 

“Yeah, Naruto,” Sakura said, smiling at Sasuke in hopes that he’d acknowledge her.  “There’s no way they’re the same guys from the bridge.”

 

As she giggled at Sasuke, who turned his head away from her, Naruto grunted.  “But,” he said, “the robes. No one around here dresses like that, ya know. You said you _saw_ them, Sakura.”

 

Sasuke’s eyes widened, finally turning to look at Sakura.  It was rare to catch his undivided attention. He wanted to know more about the robed men she’d seen.  Sakura inhaled sharply as she tried to conceive the best way to present this to him.

 

“Saw who?”

 

Sakura’s eyes snapped up to the sound of Yamato-Sensei’s voice.  He seemed to have reappeared out of thin air. He looked and sounded genuinely curious about their discussion, but Sakura didn’t think they should tell him what they were discussing.  She didn’t want to get in trouble.

 

“Did you see them, Yamato-Sensei?” Naruto said with a jump.  “The Masked Guys! From the bridge. Were they here?”

 

“What? No,” Yamato-Sensei said before his eyes darted briefly to Sasuke for a fraction of a second.  “ _They_ weren’t here.  I’m afraid there’s been a small attack in the village, though.  Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma Sarutobi are in the hospital. If it wasn’t for Might Guy stepping in…”

 

“Oh, no!” Sakura said, pressing a hand to her lips as she took a quick glance around the cafe.  She hadn’t even noticed Guy-Sensei had left. “Is it severe? Did they-“

 

Yamato-Sensei held up a hand to stop her.  “The intruders left. They won’t be back. The ANBU is on top of it.  And Guy, Kurenai and Asuma will all be fine.” His gaze shifted to the table while his hands fell to rest on his hips.  “Well. It looks like everyone let their tea get cold.”

 

Sakura followed his gaze to see three full cups grouped together near her single half-drank cup of tea.  None of them were steaming.

 

Sasuke raised his chin.  “I don’t like tea anyway.”

 

“Yeah,” Sakura giggled, “me neither.”

 

“Well, the reason I called you here was to tell you about the chunin exam results, so I’ll just say it now.  Seeing that they were interrupted, the results were inconclusive. Almost everyone will have to retake them.”

 

“What?” Naruto squealed.  

 

“Aww,” Sakura groaned.

 

She was disappointed for the boys, though she already knew she had no chance of passing this time around after her fight with Ino.  She wasn’t worried. She knew she’d be a chunin in time. She just had to work harder to keep up with these two with their insane chakra and kekkai genkai seemingly keeping them a step ahead of her.  She _wouldn’t_ fall behind her team.

 

“One person did pass though,” Yamato-Sensei said, “solely because the judges were so impressed with his performance in the final matches.”

 

“Huh?” Naruto said.

 

“Who?” Sasuke said, both boys looking guardedly hopeful.

 

“Shikamaru Nara,” Yamato-Sensei said with a dull kind of smile.

 

“Oh,” Sakura said, forcing a smile for her classmate.  “Good for him.”

 

“Shikamaru?” Naruto whined.

 

Sasuke scoffed while Yamato-Sensei went on to explain how he'd put in recommendations for them again the next time it came around, and then to tell Sasuke they needed to have a private discussion with the Hokage about his problem.  When Sasuke stormed off, refusing to hear Yamato-Sensei out, Sakura exchanged a worried glance with Naruto. It seemed none of them knew how to help Sasuke. On top of everything here, she also didn’t like having to worry about the mysterious rogues who could hospitalize powerful Leaf Village Jounin lurking around their village.

 

Unfortunately, they were still out there somewhere, in addition to these Masked Guys Naruto and Sasuke were so interested in.  Sakura needed to get serious about her training, not just to pass the next chunin exam, but so she could have a chance at protecting her teammates from whatever misfortune was bound to come their way.

 

* * *

 

 

“The Hidden Leaf seems to be without a Hokage since Orochimaru’s attack,” Zetsu said in his usual sing-song drawl.  “And it appears its young jinchuriki has left the Village.”

 

“Really?” Pain said, intrigued.

 

“Well,” Zetsu said, clapping his hands together, “I think he’s looking for someone.”

 

“Maybe they’ve selected their next Hokage from someone outside the Hidden Leaf,” Pain suggested.  He turned to Kakashi. “Who do you suppose they’re after?”

 

“What I want to know is,” Kakashi said, absorbing everything that had been happening in this avalanche of recent events, “why they’re sending Naruto Uzumaki of all people.  At a time like this. When they should know by now we’re coming for the jinchuriki. This leaves the boy vulnerable. Maybe it’s a trap.”

 

“A trap?” Zetsu laughed.  “He’s practically alone. Only one old man is traveling with him, and they’re moving at a leisurely pace, too.”

 

Kakashi narrowed his eyes.  “ _What_ one man?”

 

Zetsu shrugged.  “The jinchuriki called him Pervy Sage.  Is that a real name humans use? Sounds silly to me.”

 

“Pervy Sage?”

 

Kakashi furrowed his brows, trying to puzzle through the obvious Naruto-assigned nickname.  The kid didn’t know how to address his elders. Sounded very Kushina-like. There was only one person fitting that nickname who would worry Kakashi, but he needed more description to know for sure.

 

“Itachi and Kisame are still in the area,” Pain said.  “I think this is the perfect opportunity to send them after the nine tails.  One old man should be no problem for those two.”

 

“Zetsu,” Kakashi said, turning to the half-black-half-white creature.  “Did this old man have long white hair? Red markings beneath his eyes?”

 

Zetsu looked at him with a surprised smile.  “Yes!”

 

Kakashi sighed and narrowed his eye at Pain.  “They can’t go after Naruto Uzumaki alone. They’ll be going up against a legendary sannin.”

 

Pain nodded, his eyes widening just slightly, as if he knew exactly what Kakashi was going to say before he said it.  “Perhaps, for this one, I should go.”

 

“No,” Kakashi said, resolute.  He knew exactly what he needed to do.  “The easiest way to handle Jiraiya is a distraction.  There’ll be no need to fight him if he’s somewhere else while Itachi and Kisame take the nine tails.”

 

Pain eyed Kakashi with that vacant gaze of his.  “And you have something in mind for this distraction.”

 

“Of course,” Kakashi said with a smile.  “Me.”

 

“You?” Tobi said, springing out of the shadows.  “We’re going on a mission?”

 

“ _I_ am,” Kakashi said, casting Obito a glare.  “I’m only going to smooth talk an old friend.  It’s not like you can be of any help if things were to go awry anyway, _Tobi_.”

 

The narrowing of that Sharingan eye behind Tobi’s mask was ambrosia to Kakashi.  Right now, he hated that man more than any other person in this wretched world. Causing his old best friend even the slightest bit of grief was rewarding, though not nearly enough punishment for his crushing whatever little faith in humanity Kakashi might’ve held in memory of his teammate.  He turned his back on Obito as Pain waved for Zetsu to do as requested.

  

“Tell me where I can find Jiraiya,” Kakashi told Zetsu.  

 

* * *

 

 

He was in a filthy establishment, in a town miles outside the Hidden Leaf.  There was nothing significant here, as far as Kakashi knew. It was notorious for its gambling parlors and prostitution.  Pretty hefty amounts of thieves could be found here as well, from what Kakashi remembered from an ANBU mission that had taken him to this region.  Otherwise, the town was insignificant. Strange that Jiraiya had taken the boy _here_.

 

He took the drinks proffered to him by the bartender, placing one in each hand as he stood from the bar.  He anticipated a taste as he smiled into the bubbling, amber liquid. He’d ordered whatever Jiraiya had already been drinking over there, intending to keep the man comfortable and talkative.  

 

Catching him in here drunk and surrounded by women was ideal for Kakashi’s mission.  The man hadn’t changed at all since Kakashi last saw him. Seeing that these days, he was authoring the newest novel in the series Kakashi loved more than anything in this world, Kakashi would hate to see anything ill happen to Jiraiya.  Unfortunately, he knew Jiraiya would protect Minato’s son with everything he had. He was going to be a problem someday. But not today. Kakashi would hold Jiraiya off long enough for Kisame and Itachi to take Naruto from the inn, incident-free.

 

Kakashi approached Jiraiya, happy with his presence remaining unnoticed except for the attentive eye of one scantily-clad woman, who smiled and eyed Kakashi before Kakashi nudged the drink in Jiraiya’s face.

 

“Oh - huh?” Jiraiya said as he peeled his eyes from the giggling blonde sitting in his lap.  

 

As Jiraiya’s eyes lit on Kakashi, they grew wide, nearly sobering up with that one look.  He reached for the drink in an absent-minded sort of way, as if accepting it came automatically.  Kakashi smiled, his eyes crinkling both outside of and beneath his headband.

 

“K-Kakashi,” Jiraiya breathed before his eyes narrowed.  “You’re after Naruto!”

 

“Not at all,” Kakashi said, pushing aside the woman on Jiraiya’s right to steal the warm seat beside him.  “Is the boy here with you?”

 

“Kakashi?” the displaced woman said, confused.  “Jiraiya, who is this guy? He’s kinda cute.”

 

“Ladies, will you please excuse us?” Jiraiya scowled as he waited for the confused women to vacate this corner of the club, though his eyes remained fixed on their asses shaking as they walked.  Typical Jiraiya. “I’m not telling you _anything_ about Naruto!” Jiraiya said, turning a glare on Kakashi before shaking his head and rolling his eyes.  “I can’t _believe_ I have to defend him from you, Kakashi!  Minato was your teacher, for heaven’s sakes!  Do you have no sense of loyalty?”

 

Kakashi laughed, embittered by the question’s reminder of Obito’s much harsher betrayal regarding their Sensei.  “You should be posing that question to someone else. Though in all fairness, I can’t say there _is_ anyone I’d call myself loyal to these days.”

 

“Someone else?” Jiraiya asked, raising a brow and sitting up.  “Someone else Who?”

 

“Doesn’t matter.” Kakashi paused, fighting to erase the glare that didn’t want to leave his face as he tried not to think about Obito.  “I heard about what Orochimaru did.”

 

“Hasn’t everybody?” Jiraiya said with a sassy tilt of his head.  “But you Akatsuki have your spies, right? I shouldn’t be surprised that you already know.”

 

“I’m sorry about your sensei,” Kakashi said, feeling surprised as the words slipped out more genuinely than he thought they’d be.

 

“ _Are_ you now?” Jiraiya asked.

 

“I always liked Lord Third,” Kakashi said, slipping his mask down to sip his drink in the fleeting moment when Jiraiya looked away, then pulling it back up again as the liquor burned his throat.  “Besides, that attack had nothing to do with us.”

 

“Orochimaru,” Jiraiya scoffed the name with disdain.  He eyed Kakashi, placing his hands on his thighs as if bracing himself for what he might find.  “Why, Kakashi?”

 

“Why?” Kakashi echoed.

 

“Why did you turn your back on the Hidden Leaf?  You had so much potential. You could’ve-“

 

“The Hidden Leaf turned its back on me _long_ before I turned my back on it,” Kakashi said.

 

He was thinking of his father’s death caused by ridicule, his teammates dying as children because the village thought it wise to send their children to war, his guilt perpetually eating away at him because the village saw fit to put him in charge of missions he wasn’t ready to lead as an inexperienced child, his time in the ANBU, being encouraged to kill people without a second thought.  And they expected him to be a regular, contributing member of society after all that. They expected him to still _care_ about whether that village was maintained and flourishing, as if that system of ninja treatment was something he _wanted_ to perpetuate.

 

“Kakashi,” Jiraiya said, his voice a thick whisper.

 

“If you wanted to know why I joined an assassination squad, maybe you should’ve asked back when I joined the black ops.  Though you hardly knew me back then.” Kakashi met his gaze with a glare. “You don’t know me much _now_ either.”

 

“No,” Jiraiya said with a red-faced scowl.  “I don’t.”

 

“Can’t say I blame you,” Kakashi said, forcing a smile meant to keep this conversation superficial and Jiraiya’s feelings toward him comfortable enough to stretch this meeting.  “How many of us really show our true selves?”

 

“So now what?” Jiraiya said, his tone once again abrasive.  “You’re just going to murder without question and follow whatever the Akatsuki tell you?”

 

“Again,” Kakashi said dryly, “no different from the ANBU.  But, yes. I’ve always worked better as a follower than a leader.  These people seem to know what they’re doing, brutal though their methods may be.”

 

Jiraiya cocked his head.  “Are you here to kill _me_?”

 

He didn’t look concerned.  He had no reason to be, even if Kakashi was here on an assassination mission.  Kakashi didn’t have near enough chakra to single-handedly combat the sage master and legendary sannin.  He answered by simply shaking his head.

 

Jiraiya furrowed his brows, looking deeply confused.  “Then why are you-“

 

Jiraiya gasped.  Shot to his feet.  Ran out the door. He was on his way to protect Naruto, no doubt.  Kakashi had bought those two as much time as he could. Itachi and Kisame had adequate time to complete their mission, as long as they weren’t dawdling.

 

Kakashi raised his glass toward the vacated doorway.  “Nice talking to you again, Jiraiya.”


	7. Called to Action

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day! Perfect time to update a fic with no romance in it. I really enjoy reading your reviews, so thank you to those of you who've commented. Next update won't be far from now.

Becoming the next Hokage of the Hidden Leaf hadn’t been an easy decision.  Tsunade honestly never saw herself in this office and still found it hard to believe.  Thank the heavens she had Shizune by her side, and Jiraiya’s full confidence encouraging her, because she needed all the help she could get if she was going to live up to the sort of Hokage her brother and Dan once dreamed of becoming - the kind of Hokage that brat Naruto saw himself becoming someday.  Tsunade was here now, so she didn’t want to let any of them down.

 

However, the challenges ahead of her already seemed too much to handle.

 

Having her old friend Orochimaru as an enemy was trying her nerve.  Now, this news that the young surviving member of the Uchiha clan, the last of them left in the Hidden Leaf, had deserted the village in order to  _ join _ Orochimaru had increased her stress tenfold.  The stress was due not only to being thin on jonin, her best ninja already sent away on risky missions in light of this recent attack involving neighboring lands still under suspicion, but also to Naruto and the others being desperate to bring Sasuke back.  

 

Tsunade was desperate for it too, but saw no other way than to send a team after him lead by the Hidden Leaf’s newest chunin, Shikamaru Nara.  Not to mention, they still had the looming threat of the Akatsuki, who’d already made an attempt on Naruto once, Naruto’s abduction narrowly thwarted by Jiraiya’s last-second appearance.  Tsunade needed to take action before they decided to try again, and maybe succeeded this time. But first, she needed to give the village genin squad on this latest mission the best chance of success she could.  She didn’t have any available Jounin to send with them, whose numbers were dwindling rapidly, but maybe a neighboring village could help.

 

The Hidden Sand  _ had _ claimed they would make it up to the Hidden Leaf to prove they were no longer their enemies.

 

As Tsunade prepared a message for the Kazekage, she gnawed her bottom lip and worked potential solutions for the Akatsuki problem through her head.  With Kakashi Hatake and Itachi Uchiha among their midsts - two former ANBU captains considered to be S-class criminals with more knowledge about the Hidden Leaf’s way of operating than any other enemy - there was only one possible move Tsunade could see.  

 

They would need to meet the problem head-on, before it met them.  Not without adequate preparation, of course. The village was already short on Jounin, and she wouldn’t consider sending lower ranking ninja after this group.  However, she wasn’t prepared to risk the life of one more jounin either. They needed time to prepare. Tsunade could only hope the Akatsuki didn’t make another move on Naruto before they were ready.

 

* * *

 

“This waiting is like a slow death,” Kakashi said, half to his partner, half to the grayness surrounding them.

 

Obito leveled him a glare from a block of gray, partitioned from where Kakashi stood.  “You think  _ you’ve _ been waiting?  You have nothing to complain about.  Practice some patience.”

 

“Yeah,” Kakashi said with a sigh.

 

His eyes looked askance, turning from Obito in favor of hoping to find clarity in the emptiness of Kamui.  They were waiting for notice from Sasori and Deidara. The two of them were bound for the Hidden Sand to capture the one-tail jinchuriki.  Until something happened, Kakashi had nothing better to do than sit here. They were potentially up to retrieve the next tailed beast, but that all depended on Pain’s whim, apparently.   _ Tobi _ was supposed to be a last resort for a mission of such great importance because he wouldn’t just reveal his damn true identity yet.  At this point, Kakashi was willing to take on an ordinary assassination mission, if only to have something to take his mind off waiting to change the world.

 

“Besides,” Obito said, “you don’t have to worry about death.  As far as I’m concerned, we’re already dead.”

 

“As far as I’m concerned,  _ you’re _ insane,” Kakashi countered.

 

Obito laughed.  “Maybe Tobi is. Obito is gone, as I’ve told you countless times.  But you don’t get it, Kakashi. I really am-“

 

“ _ Madara _ Uchiha,” Kakashi said with a roll of his eyes.  “Sure.”

 

A burst of movement prompted Kakashi to summon a clone and evade the attack just before Obito’s hand was clenched around his clone’s throat.  As Kakashi hid in the shadows beneath the block of gray on which Obito and his clone stood, Kakashi watched pain flash across his doppelgänger’s face.  Obito’s gloves crinkled beneath the force of his knuckles digging into Clone Kakashi’s neck. His brows pressed together over his one narrowed, crazed Sharingan eye.  Kakashi gritted his teeth as he watched. His old teammate really was insane, not only because he believed he was Madara Uchiha, but because he could react this furiously to being told he  _ wasn’t _ .

 

“ _ Kakashi _ ,” Obito growled at his clone, “you have no idea of the extent to which I’m involved in Pain’s plans for this world.  Madara Uchiha himself chose me. If you want to keep questioning it, maybe we don’t  _ need _ you to finish this.”

 

He crushed, harder again, and the clone’s eyes filled with the type of panic Kakashi felt only after killing one of his dearest friends with a blast through the heart.  Then he exploded with a scream into a cloud of dust. Obito only grinned as his hand closed around empty air. He swung the orange mask braced in his hand by his side, almost playfully.

 

“Kakashi,” he called.

 

Kakashi flashed to Obito’s back from his hiding spot, spinning a kunai before pressing it to the back of Obito’s throat.  By now, he should’ve been used to this dance. Their time spent in Kamui was never without danger. He was amazed one of them hadn’t killed the other yet.  Before Kakashi could hit Obito with an insult to his stupidity and insist that he wouldn’t be able to do this  _ without _ Kakashi’s help, something sparked in his mind.  Obito stiffened, not only in reaction to the cold steel of Kakashi’s kunai, but to what he and Kakashi just felt.

 

It was Pain.  They were being summoned.

 

Kakashi withdrew his kunai to his side, glaring at the back of Obito’s head as he activated his mangekyou Sharingan.

 

“I wonder what our leader has to tell us,” Obito said coyly.

 

“We’re not finished with this, Obito,” Kakashi said before they both disappeared from their secret dimension, prepared to do what was needed of them.

 

* * *

 

Gaara needed their help.  Yet, no matter how hard they raced, or how determined Naruto felt, it wasn’t fast enough.  Team Yamato’s mission was to rescue the abducted kazekage from the Akatsuki who’d attacked the Hidden Sand and taken Gaara with them, which meant lots of bad news.  All Naruto could think about though, was his friend Gaara. The guy was only his age, already a Kage, but he’d had much too short and unfulfilled a life to be killed so soon.  Gaara had grown up too similarly to Naruto to die now. He was only  _ beginning _ to live a fulfilling life.  It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right!  

 

As tears streamed down Naruto’s cheeks, he tried to ignore them.  He let the pain he was feeling drive him forward, faster and faster, in spite of Yamato-Sensei’s insistence that he slow down.  Naruto couldn’t leave his teammates behind, but any time they wasted was simply lost. The enemy already had Gaara. For all Naruto knew, they were racing to save a dead man.

 

The only things reassuring Naruto now were Temari’s genuine appreciation for his expressed feelings toward her brother Gaara as she led the way, and Sakura’s concern for his being a target of the Akatsuki as well.  He’d never expected Sakura to promise to protect him. He’d never expected appreciation for his understanding another person, either. His friends really cared about him.

 

They hadn’t found anything good when they reached the Hidden Sand.  Gaara had been removed from the city hours ago, and his brother Kankuro was in bad shape, poisoned by one of the Akatsuki.  Fortunately, Sakura was able to heal Kankuro, who’d torn a piece of cloth from his attacker, giving them something to track.  If only they had sensory abilities like Kiba’s or Neji’s on hand to help, or Yamato-Sensei had a chance to plant one of his seeds on them.  Regardless, they would track the Akatsuki back from the way they came. They only had to wait against the sandstorm Temari warned them not to go into.  Naruto wanted to leave, sandstorm or not. He needed to find Gaara. But when Temari swore they’d be lost and never find him, he had to pause. The old lady helping Kankuro volunteered to come along, so they’d taken her to confront her grandson - the Akatsuki who’d nearly killed Kankuro.

 

Now, they were drawing near what they suspected to be the Akatsuki’s hideout, where they’d taken Gaara.  A patch of trees lined this area as they drew near to water. A dark figure emerged from the tree up ahead.

 

“Stop!” Yamato-Sensei said, barring his arm across Sakura, Naruto, and their new companion, old lady Chiyo.

 

Naruto’s eyes widened as he perceived the black and red cloak, the silver hair and the mask.  “It’s  _ that _ guy!”

 

“Th-the White Fang of the Leaf?” Granny Chiyo said.

 

“No!” Naruto scoffed, scowling sideways at her.

 

“Who?” Sakura asked Granny Chiyo, before raising her chin toward Masked Guy.  “And who’s he?”

 

“This is bad,” Yamato-Sensei breathed, his eyes darting rapidly from side to side.

 

“Remember Naruto Bridge?” Naruto said to Sakura, causing her beautiful jade eyes to light with recognition.  “He’s the one who took Zabuza.”

 

“Yo,” Masked Guy called in casual greeting, waving one hand and tucking the other into the crease lining the front of his cloak.

 

Yamato-Sensei shook his head and addressed his team.  “By the time Kakashi’s showing himself, his enemy’s already in danger.  Keep sharp, everyone! Watch out for his Sharingan!”

 

Masked Guy chuckled.  “Tenzō, you could save these kids right now by turning around.”

 

“Fat chance!” Naruto shouted, cutting off his Sensei before he could reply.  “We’re going to rescue Gaara!”

 

“Naruto!” Yamato-Sensei hissed.

 

“No,” Masked Guy said, his silver brows narrowing as he brought his hands together to weave signs like Naruto had never seen before, “you’re not.”

 

Lightning erupted from the guy’s gloved right palm.  Naruto’s heart leapt as the sight and screeching sound of it reminded him of Haku dying on the bridge, brought down by Zabuza as that attack plunged through Zabuza’s chest.  Naruto glanced at Sakura and Granny Chiyo, scared for them for a moment before Yamato-Sensei cried out and leapt back.

 

The ground exploded where Yamato-Sensei had stood.  A gloved fist emerged from the splitting soil, attached to a clone of the man now running at them with a lightning blade he called  _ chidori _ .  Yamato-Sensei’s evasion wasn’t fast enough.  The clone snagged Yamato-Sensei’s chin with his punch.  As the Sensei tumbled back and weaved signs mid-fall, the chidori-wielding Akatsuki member moved toward Naruto.  

 

Naruto cried out as he wove signs, realizing the attack was coming in faster than he expected.  He had no time to form a rasengan before he’d be gored through the chest like Haku. With a yell, he formed the sign for shadow clones just in time to use one to shield himself from the attack.  It was an unfortunate sacrifice, but better to watch his clone die by that chidori. 

 

When Masked Guy’s mismatched eyes widened at the sight of his attack falling through air, Naruto smirked.  He still had another clone beside him and the element of surprise in his favor. He used his moment of opportunity to grab his clone by the wrist and throw him into his opponent.  The clone slashed at the Akatsuki member’s Sharingan with his kunai. Blood poured from the wound, spraying red through the air as the clone and his kunai disappeared in a puff of smoke.  The masked man pressed a hand over his eye, crying out and falling back.

 

Naruto heard Yamato-Sensei call out a wood style jutsu before Kakashi’s clone was battered by a barrage of expanding wood that slammed him to the ground, where he dissipated in a cloud of dust.

 

“Yes!” Naruto cheered.

 

“Naruto, look out!” Sakura cried.

 

Naruto tensed, his eyes snapping to Sakura and Granny Chiyo.  They both seemed safe, but the fear written on their faces was contagious.  Their bulging eyes were both focused on the same point somewhere right past Naruto’s shoulder.  

 

Naruto gasped.  His eyes strained to see what was behind him, though he couldn’t sense anything.  Somewhere along the lines, Kakashi had left his line of sight.

 

“I would’ve expected,” Kakashi said in his ear, causing a chill to crawl up Naruto’s spine, “a ninja of your potential to know better than to let your opponent get behind you so easily.”

 

“Naruto!” Yamato-Sensei yelled.

 

Air whooshed behind Naruto as the strike came at his back, but there was no impact.  Air rushed past his back and when Naruto spun around, Kakashi was being propelled away from Naruto, as if someone pulled him by the kunai in his hand.  The glowing strings of chakra were just barely visible, whirling through the air above him. Blood poured from Kakashi’s eye and stained his black mask while his good eye glared in the direction of Sakura and Granny Chiyo.  Granny Chiyo’s fingers danced through the air, playing Kakashi as her puppet as Sakura prepared her fist with a windup.

 

“Sakura!” Naruto gasped.

 

As Kakashi reached the top of his arc and began the downward swing to meeting Sakura’s attack, Naruto beamed at his kunoichi teammate’s determined expression.  Then something cut through the air, a shrill slash that made Granny Chiyo gasp. Kakashi spun a kunai and flipped through the air, propelling himself  _ away _ from Sakura.  His chakra-powered blade had cut through the strings and freed him from Granny Chiyo’s hold.  He landed with his eyes set on Yamato-Sensei.

 

“Dammit!” Naruto snarled.  “Shadow clone jutsu!”

 

As he and his band of shadow clones ran to help his Sensei, Yamato-Sensei was already weaving signs, heaving deep breaths with the effort.  Kakashi’s fingers went to work just as adeptly, and when he landed, those hands went flat to the ground as he called out an earth style jutsu.

 

Yamato-Sensei’s wood form shot out in a tangle of branches from his arms while a mud wall raised from the earth, blocking Kakashi.  

 

“Kakashi…” Yamato-Sensei growled, the frustration evident in his voice.

 

Naruto growled along with his clones.  He didn’t like what this was doing to his Sensei, the clear emotional strain he felt from this fight.  He also didn’t like being cut off from the enemy. This division left Sakura and Granny Chiyo on their own.  Yamato-Sensei’s wood attack crashed into the mud wall with a crack. Fissures split and spread through the mud wall until Yamato-Sensei’s jutsu broke through.  When the wall shattered, a blast of fire greeted them. Naruto gasped as he watched two of his clones who’d taken the lead become swallowed in flames. 

 

“Naruto!” Yamato-Sensei threw himself at Naruto, knocking them both to the ground just in time to let the fireball pass over them, its heat warming Naruto’s exposed skin and blazing orange hues captivating his eyes.

 

“How many jutsu does this guy have?” Naruto complained.

 

“He’s known as the Copy ninja,” Yamato-Sensei said as he clambered to his feet and looked in the direction from which the fireball came.  No one was there. “He’s copied over a thousand jutsu.”

 

“Naruto.” Kakashi’s voice was behind them now, frustrating Naruto into a heaving growl as he recalled Kakashi’s earlier mockery of this exact situation.  “Your friend Gaara is about to die. Perhaps you’ll be next.”

 

“Nooo!” Granny Chiyo cried.

 

Kakashi dodged the chattering puppet that launched at him, one ugly and spider-like, which Naruto wasn’t even aware Granny Chiyo had released.  As Kakashi flew backward, Yamato-Sensei manipulated the signs for forming a wood prison, calling out the jutsu’s name with his eyes fixed on his target.  Naruto knew he would be the one to finish Kakashi before Kakashi could be trapped by Yamato-Sensei’s attack. Granny Chiyo led Kakashi just where Naruto wanted him.  He  _ had _ him this time.  Naruto gave his clones hiding behind the trees a nod and watched the pair of them emerge with a glowing rasengan shared between their sets of rapidly moving hands.

 

The clones shouted, “Rasengan!” just as Kakashi threw up his hands in a last-minute, inadequate defense.

 

The blast boomed through the forest, the noise grander than the brightness of the explosion.  As Naruto’s clones dissipated, he acquired the knowledge that the attack had been a success. There was no way Kakashi survived.

 

Yamato-Sensei fell to his knees as they watched the dust settle around the crater formed in the earth.  “Kakashi…”

 

Sakura stepped forward, reaching a consoling hand to Yamato-Sensei’s shoulder.  “I’m sorry, Sensei. He was...a friend of yours once, right?”

 

Naruto turned his eyes to the pit where the body remained, its sandals and bare toes up to the calves wrapped in white and pants and...something wasn’t right.  There was no robe.

 

A rush of wind washed over them just as Yamato-Sensei was raising his head from his downcast gaze at the ground.  The dust cleared, leaving Naruto feeling like the air was knocked from his lungs. Their target was definitely dead.  But he looked like a sand ninja they’d never seen before, not Kakashi Hatake. 

 

“Wh-what in the hell?” Naruto said.

 

“He-“ Sakura stuttered.  “Who is he?”

 

“A jounin from my village,” Granny Chiyo said, her eyes lowering to scan the face.

 

“H-how?” Naruto asked.  “We were fighting Masked Guy!  We beat him, didn’t we?”

 

Yamato-Sensei gulped as he rose to his feet, standing beside Sakura.  “This man was already dead. We’re looking at the work of a very powerful jutsu.”

 

“It’s a replacement jutsu,” Granny Chiyo said, meeting Yamato-Sensei’s gaze.

 

Yamato-Sensei nodded.  “It must require a huge amount of chakra.”

 

“So we... _ weren’t _ fighting Masked Guy?” Naruto asked, scratching his head.

 

Granny Chiyo groaned and lowered her head.  “I don’t like this. It cost us too much time.  Now Sasori-“

 

“Dammit!” Naruto said as the whole purpose of this attack occurred to him.  “They’re stalling us so we won’t save Gaara in time!”

 

Yamato-Sensei groaned and rubbed his forehead.  “These Akatsuki are really crafty. But this mission isn’t over!  Let’s go!”

 

Naruto sprang to action first, intending to continue forward whether or not he heard the others following.  They did follow, though. None of them were going to allow the Akatsuki get away with this. It was bad enough they killed all those ninja in the Hidden Sand Village and nearly killed Kankurō.  Naruto wouldn’t stand by and let Gaara die, too.

 

“Naruto!” Yamato-Sensei called as he progressed forward at a pace faster than he’d traveled before running into the false Kakashi Hatake.  “Slow down! You don’t even know which way to go!”

  
Naruto grunted with the exertion it took to move faster.  He  _ would _ find Gaara, and he  _ would _ save him, definitely.  There was no way he would let his team fail to save his friend.


	8. Persistence

The release of the jutsu had been unsettling.  It shook Kakashi more than the death of a shadow clone.  He immediately felt the drain on his chakra, remembered feeling Naruto’s rasengan in his zombified host.  The boy had mastered Minato-sensei’s jutsu. Kakashi wouldn’t have thought him capable of learning it so soon.  That had to be Jiraiya’s doing.  As Kakashi lowered his hands from the signs  to rest them in his lap, his mind transferred briefly to his own body, where he saw Obito sitting cross-legged at his side, before he transferred back to the cave with the kazekage and the rest of the Akatsuki.

 

“What of the rescue teams?” Pain asked Kakashi and Obito.

 

Kakashi eyed Obito curiously.  He wished he could’ve seen the fight between him and Guy’s team.  He wondered which was really stronger of his two oldest friends and rivals.  He couldn’t imagine any young genin following  _ Guy’s _ leadership.  That would’ve been a sight to behold.  Whether it was Guy or Obito taking the beating, he suspected he would’ve enjoyed the spectacle.

 

“Oh! Oh!” Obito said, his technicolored figure hopping from foot to foot on his rocky perch.  “I think I killed a kid. But  _ boy _ do those guys know their taijutsu!  I’m so glad I was able to participate this time!”  He giggled, laying it on too thick in a way that made Kakashi want to reach across the void and punch him in the mouth.  “Thank you for giving me this opportunity, leader!”

 

“What the hell does that answer even mean?” Kisame asked, his imposing figure flickering as he turned toward Pain.  “You should’ve sent Itachi and me. We would’ve finished off those leaf ninja entirely.”

 

Kakashi scoffed while Obito laughed nervously.

 

“And you, Kakashi?” Konan said.  “Did you have better results with the wood-style user and the nine tail jinchuriki?”

 

“Well,” Kakashi drawled, “they won’t make it here in time to save  _ him _ .”

 

As Kakashi gestured to the redheaded teen hovering in the midst of their meeting with a blue aura surrounding him and tying him to the gedo statue, back folded in an unnatural position, Pain nodded with a hum.  There was no reason for them to prod further. Despite what Kisame said, their mission just now wasn’t to kill. It was to delay. It  _ had _ been a success.  Besides, Kakashi wasn’t convinced that either Itachi  _ or _ Kisame would’ve managed to kill either team while so greatly outnumbered.  The Hidden Leaf ninja weren’t to be underestimated.

 

“Speaking of them making their way here,” Sasori said, “in case they actually do, can we wrap this up already?”

 

“My man Sasori has a point,” Deidara said.  “It’s the two of  _ us _ that’ll have to deal with them if they actually manage to find this place, un.”

 

“The extraction is almost finished,” Pain said.

 

Kakashi’s eyes drifted to the eerie eyeholes of the statue they surrounded.  Only a few looked back at him, while the rest remained sockets, waiting to be filled.  To think, once this was complete, a ten tailed beast could be revived. Its power so massive, it could save this world and bring about an alternate peace, with no need for fighting or killing.

 

For the time being, those who tried to stop it would have to die, a few sacrifices for the protection of the masses.  Kakashi didn’t want to see another child grow up like he did. He looked across the way and felt his eyes narrow on impulse as they lit on Obito’s teetering figure.  He most definitely didn’t want to see another bright and optimistic child turn out like _him_.

 

* * *

 

Team Yamato needed a new addition.  Without Granny Chiyo joining them on that last mission, they would’ve failed.  The kazekage they’d set out to save would be dead, rather than the old woman who had so nobly sacrificed herself.  Another member was imperative for future missions. It was clear to Tenzō by now that Sasuke had no intention of returning to the Hidden Leaf or re-joining their team, contrary to what Naruto or Sakura believed.  Tenzō wasn’t entirely surprised when the Hokage brought forward a Foundation member for their fourth member. Clearly, Danzo had put his say into this, but Tenzo was more comfortable with this arrangement than any other jonin leader of the Hidden Leaf could be.  After all, he was from the Foundation, too. He could understand this boy, Sai. He wasn’t so sure how well Naruto and Sakura would, though. 

 

Hence this outing.  

 

The team needed to learn to work together and tolerate each other’s quirks before Tenzō could take them on a mission.  He needed to ensure that this team could be successful. The longer the Akatsuki remained free and moving toward their goal, the more imperative it was that their team work effectively for whatever missions might arise.  Besides, this spa retreat gave Tenzo the chance to plant his seeds on Sai. He might’ve been entirely capable of working with Foundation members, but Tenzō was also  _ familiar _ with the way they worked.  Seeing that Lady Tsunade intended to send them after Sasuke and Orochimaru at some point, if this opportunity to locate them Sakura had provided panned out, Tenzo wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Danzo had some other objective in mind when he sent Sai to join this team.

 

Tenzo turned his thoughts back to the spa as he forced a smile across the curtain of steam rising between him and his new teammates.  “Well? How about some dinner? My treat.”

 

“Yes, thank you,” Sai said as Naruto jumped, splashing hot water all over Tenzo’s chest.

 

“Yes!” Naruto whooped and laughed.  “You’re the best team captain ever, Yamato-Sensei!”

 

Tenzō tightened his smile as he climbed out of the hot spring.  He’d thought _his_ captain was the best ever at one point, too. Tenzō wondered if  he could ever change in the way Kakashi had.  He wondered if there was anything that really differentiated the two of them, or maybe the world was really as shitty as Kakashi led on.  Maybe everyone else just didn’t see it yet.

 

But when Tenzo looked back at Naruto to see that bright sunshine of a smile on his innocent face, he dismissed the cynical thought.  He was convinced that had Kakashi encountered Naruto before his desertion, he might have seen the world in an entirely new light.

 

* * *

 

“It sounds like Kakuzu and Hidan are having fun,” Obito said in his _Tobi_ voice, shooting Kakashi a glance.  “Did you know the Hidden Leaf man they killed, Kakashi? He was about your age, I think.”

 

Kakashi met Obito’s taunting one-eyed gaze with a tired glare.  Obito knew exactly who Asuma was - to both of them. Truthfully, the people from Kakashi’s Leaf Village past were already filed away as ghosts in his mind, right alongside Rin.  The notion that Asuma Sarutobi  _ could _ still be killed was more of a surprise to him at this point than the news of his old classmate’s death.

 

“Ooh,” Tobi said, covering his masked mouth with a gloved hand, speaking in a way that made Kakashi imagine him blushing beneath that orange mask, “I hope it doesn’t upset you too much.  Knowing Kakuzu and Hidan, more Leaf ninja will follow him to the grave.”

 

“O-“ Kakashi cut off his reprimand, biting his tongue at the sight of Obito’s red eye narrowing in the shadow of his mask.  “Tobi. Do me a favor and shut up for a while,” Kakashi said with an eye-crinkling smile. “Okay?”

 

As Tobi balked and sputtered, unable to put an adequate response into words because he’d stuck himself with this floundering idiot role, Kakashi panned his smile across the campfire.  Yet another tailed demon was in their grasp, the two-tails Hidan and Kakuzu retrieved before running into Hidden Leaf ninja, and it seemed to be time to extract the beast from its jinchuriki. When Tobi finally gave up on finding words, a rock whizzed through the air, aimed at Kakashi’s head.  He caught it. As the stone clapped against his palm, Kakashi turned his widening smile on Obito. He was sure Obito would catch the meaning of his smile, even through the mask.

 

“It’s time,” Pain finally said.  Kakashi had honestly wondered what he’d been waiting for, but was relieved to see Pain forming the hand sign for summoning.  “Hidan and Kakuzu will have to tear themselves from their work for the time being.”

 

Kakashi sighed as more technicolored forms appeared around Pain’s glowing silhouette.  Zetsu and Tobi were already here with him in the physical form, but the others were a kaleidoscope of summons from other locations throughout the lands.  Kakuzu and Hidan were the last two to appear, and from Hidan’s mouth, the first to complain.

 

“We were just getting to the good part,” Hidan groaned.  “I wasn’t able to make my offering to Jashin!”

 

“This is more important,” Pain said simply as Kakashi pressed his fingers together for the extraction jutsu along with the others.

 

“Just how long is this going to take?” Kakuzu asked.

 

“Three days, more or less,” Konan’s light-form answered.

 

“Three days?” Hidan whined.  “It’s raining where we are!”

 

Kakashi rolled his eyes before pressing them closed and focusing on the jutsu.   _ Focus on the jutsu.  Revive the ten tails to create the Infinite Tsukuyomi.  Forget the idiots around you. _  Hidan and Kakuzu could go back to their fun with the Hidden Leaf ninja who’d surely come after them after learning of Asuma Sarutobi’s death. 

 

Kakashi didn’t care whether those two lived through the encounter, or who they might take down next.

 

* * *

 

Sasuke inhaled a deep breath, tasting fresh, open air, no longer in hiding.  He was so close he could taste it. The time spent with Orochimaru and his annoying four-eyed sidekick had served Sasuke well, honing and enhancing his powers in ways which would’ve never been possible on his own.  Naruto couldn’t have surpassed him these past years. Not even Itachi would be able to outmatch Sasuke. With Orochimaru dead, absorbed so easily with the power of the Sharingan, Sasuke had Itachi  _and only Itachi_ on his mind.

 

He was ready to face his brother, the killer of his clan, with the same eyes.  He’d cut all his ties. He’d gathered enough hate. Nothing mattered now but the revenge he’d been planning these past years.  If he died, he died. If he won, he’d have his revenge and a target on his back, not only from the Hidden Leaf, but likely from the Akatsuki as well, for killing one of their members.

 

No matter the outcome, this was worth it.  He would take this chance to avenge his clan.  

 

He had no doubt Itachi would meet him head-on.

 

* * *

 

Kakashi folded his arms across his chest, tilting his head in consideration of Zetsu’s announcement.  “Well, this is interesting.”

 

“Interesting?” Obito said in his childish  _ Tobi _ voice.  “Pain was found and that’s all you have to say?   _ Interesting _ ?”

 

Kakashi leveled him a glare before indicating Zetsu with a nod.  “It’s only me and him here. Dammit, how many times do I have to tell you to drop the act, Obito?”

 

Obito gasped and pressed a palm dramatically to his chest.  “You  _ wound _ me, Copy Ninja!  This is no act!”

 

Zetsu hummed, sounding amused as he raised his palms up in the air.  “Obito, Tobi, Madara...makes no difference to us.”

 

“It makes a difference to me,” Kakashi grumbled.

 

“Then think of me as Nobody, Kakashi,” Obito said, serious now, though his voice was too deep to match the friend Kakashi once knew.

 

“I swear, Obito-” Kakashi grumbled.

 

“This is no problem, anyway,” Zetsu said.  “Nobody can touch Pain.”

 

“-you never listen!”

 

“ _ I’m _ the superior here, Kakashi!” Obito snapped, sounding like his petulant self again.  “You can’t expect me to follow your orders!”

 

“Not even,” Zetsu continued smoothly, as if he didn’t notice the argument occurring in front of him, “a legendary sannin.”

 

Kakashi balked.  “Sannin?”

 

“He’ll never relay information back to the Hidden Leaf,” Zetsu said with a jagged-toothed smile.  “So our plans are fine.”

 

Orochimaru would know where to find Pain, but  _ he _ was already dead.  Everyone knew by now that Sasuke Uchiha has killed him.  And Zetsu had clearly said he, so the sannin he spoke of wasn’t the Hidden Leaf’s current Hokage, Tsunade.  Jiraiya then. Kakashi was surprised his old sensei’s master was stupid enough to go into the Hidden Rain alone.

 

“Kakashi!” Obito said with feigned shock, his arms crossing almost playfully across his chest.  “Are you worrying about old Master Jiraiya?”

 

“No,” Kakashi said, keeping his attitude aloof as usual.  “Surprised at him, actually. You might have just been surpassed for the title of Biggest Idiot I’ve Ever Known, Obito.”

 

“You shut up!” Obito barred his forearm across Kakashi’s throat, pinning him to the tree behind him.

 

Kakashi heaved a shuddering breath as grating pain stroked his spine.  The pressure on his throat throbbed, worse than what his back felt against the ragged bark.  Sometimes he forgot this wasn’t the Obito of his childhood.  _ This _ Obito would kill Kakashi without a second thought, and if Kakashi wasn’t imagining things, still to this day held a grudge against Kakashi over Rin’s death which was always hanging over their heads.  He could just be imagining it, but he knew what the despair looked like that went with that type of thought. He’d seen it in the mirror too many times to dismiss it. Even now, as Obito glared through the single eyehole of his mask, digging his elbow into Kakashi’s throat, Kakashi saw the pain.  He saw the intent to kill. He felt Obito trembling against him. This had nothing to do with Kakashi calling him stupid.

 

As Obito heaved a few breaths, Kakashi raised his hands to signal peace.  He tried to speak, but his throat constricted, only allowing his words to come out as a wheezing gargle.  Obito scoffed through his clenched teeth.

 

“Hmm, Tobi,” Zetsu cooed, tilting his head speculatively as he watched Kakashi’s face likely turning blue, “maybe you should let him go if you don’t want to have to recruit another partner.”

 

With one last sneer, Obito shoved away from Kakashi and turned.  As soon as air was back in Kakashi’s lungs, Kakashi laughed. He didn’t even know where the laughter came from.  It was there, bitter and as potent as his hatred for this  _ Nobody _ Obito thought he was.  Kakashi rubbed his throat and pushed off the tree while Obito whirled around to pace the other way, regaining composure.

 

“Another partner,” Obito repeated, rubbing his chin.  “With Sasori killed by the old lady, Deidara is in need of a partner.” He glanced at Kakashi.  “Maybe a temporary separation is a good idea.”

 

Kakashi read his gaze and nodded.  He could use a break from Tobi and Madara Uchiha.  He didn’t know what this meant for him in the organization (Obito’s tone seemed to suggest he intended to make  _ himself _ Deidara’s partner), but Kakashi couldn’t be less concerned.  After all, he’d given up long ago on caring about his future. It was only the future of the world at stake now, and as long as somebody changed it, it didn’t matter to Kakashi how it was done.

 

“Don’t forget that Kakuzu has recovered, though he’ll never be able to stitch all of Hidan’s pieces back together after that encounter with the Hidden Leaf ninja.  Now, would you two like me to tell you what’s happening?” Zetsu said with an air of hopefulness to his voice.

 

“No,” Kakashi said, his mind long past the Jiraiya in Hidden Rain situation, while Obito said, “Yes.”

 

They exchanged glares across the shadows beneath the tree, but Zetsu seemed intent on continuing, regardless of what their answers may have been.

 

“Three Pains were defeated.  Konan and Pain remember Jiraiya as their master, yet they’re going to kill him anyway,”  Zetsu’s eyes, the white and the black side of him, bulged with fascination. “Betrayal is an interesting phenomena of humanity, isn’t it?  That reminds me. Obito-“

 

Obito held up a gloved hand.  “Don’t.” He turned to Kakashi before he could ask. “Don’t ask.  Trust me, you don’t want to get him started on asking about humans.”

 

Kakashi just shook his head before turning his eyes on Zetsu, his curiosity spiked.  “You said Jiraiya  _ defeated _ Pain?”

 

“No,” Zetsu said with a broad smile.  “I said three of them. The others have already been revived.  Jiraiya will die.”

 

Hearing those words spoken aloud, and knowing them to be true, Kakashi felt a wave of emotion he couldn’t quite place.  He thought he’d cut all ties to the Leaf Village and the affairs of this world, mentally and emotionally.  Yet the thought of Jiraiya’s death left a quiver of emotion he didn’t know he had. Maybe it was like Obito’s grudge over Rin.  Maybe no Shinobi could really be  _ Nobody _ , as much as they tried to separate themselves from this reality.

 

The pain in this world was a persistent bastard.


	9. Winning

They’d searched and searched, chasing one lead after another, but never finding  _ him _ .  Knowing Sasuke wasn’t far only made this worse for her.  Sakura could feel it in her bones, how close Sasuke was, but she felt he’d never been more out of her reach.  She wanted to hold him and tell him how much she loved him, but she knew a different kind of love drove him on now.  His love and hate for his lost clan and his brother had fueled his actions these past years. It only made sense that they should drive his motivation now.

 

Sakura clenched her heart as it felt like it twisted within her ribcage, but she pressed on, walking through a town where Akamaru’s keen nose had caught and lost Sasuke’s scent.  She had to stay on guard and not let her feelings for Sasuke distract her. There were more than likely Akatsuki around here. Sakura wouldn’t want another run-in with Kakashi Hatake, or worse, to come between Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha himself.

 

She sighed as she progressed down the street, passing a redhead in glasses who side-eyed her while walking by.  Still no sign of Sasuke. As she walked further, she debated whether to turn another way to counter her search.

 

The ground trembled.  Sakura stopped in her tracks and gasped as her eyes caught the mass explosion blossoming in the sky.  It took her breath away as a sickly feeling entered her stomach. She had a feeling Sasuke was caught in that blast.  She shook it off, refusing to think about it.

 

“Sakura!” Kiba called.

 

Sakura turned to the sound of his voice, though he was already riding Akamaru up to her side.

 

“Did you  _ see _ that?”

 

“Y-Yeah,” Sakura said.  “D-do you think anyone was over there?”

 

Kiba rubbed his head, looking embarrassed.  “Actually...Sasuke’s scent headed off that way.  I’m sorry, Sakura.”

 

“No!”

 

Kiba looked off into the distance, where grey clouds of smoke now lingered.  “I’d be willing to bet some Akatsuki were there, too.”

 

“Sasuke…” Sakura said, clasping her hands together and following Kiba’s gaze.  

 

She wouldn’t believe Sasuke was gone.  Not until she knew for sure. She would never give up on Sasuke, not anymore than Naruto would.  Sasuke was strong. If he was out there, he’d pull through somehow. He had to, in order to fight Itachi.  And Sakura knew how much he wanted that. He’d deserted his village and his team solely for this chance. Sakura knew he wouldn’t waste it.

 

She surged forward with heaving breath, a renewed energy overtaking her.  She had to see for herself. She had to meet Sasuke over there. She didn’t care if the Akatsuki were waiting.  She would meet them head-on if she had to. All that mattered to her now was finding Sasuke alive before he could get himself killed.

* * *

 

“What is this?” Kakashi said when he walked into the darkly shadowed, candlelit room.

 

He was here because Zetsu had implied this was where he’d find Obito after the explosive battle that had apparently killed Deidara.  Zetsu hadn’t said anything about finding another person here though. Kakashi was taken aback at the sight of the teen in bandages, no more than sixteen. He bore a resemblance to Itachi, but that definitely wasn’t Itachi sitting on the floor, looking up at Obito.  Itachi had just been killed too, at least according to Zetsu. This had to be the other Uchiha boy - Itachi’s younger brother who’d killed Orochimaru. Kakashi looked to Obito, who only answered his question with a pointed look that told him to  _ keep his mouth shut _ .

 

“Who’s he?” The boy surveyed Kakashi with eyes tainted by greater darkness than some of the Akatsuki members.

 

“This is Kakashi,” Obito said, causing Kakashi to snort as he ignored  _ his _ earlier question but answered this kid, “Kakashi Hatake.”  As Sasuke looked Kakashi over with that discerning gaze Kakashi received from everyone who knew his reputation, Obito glanced Kakashi’s way.  “What are you doing here, Kakashi? We’re having a conversation.”

 

Kakashi folded his arms across his chest, let his heavy eyelids fall, and leaned his back against cold hard jagged rock.  “By all means.”

 

Obito heaved a weary sigh, at which point Kakashi belatedly noted the deep timbre to Obito’s voice.  He was using his  _ Madara Uchiha _ voice.  Kakashi cocked his head, listening more intently now that he realized the identity he was presenting to this boy.  Obito had something planned for Sasuke Uchiha.

 

“Sasuke,” Obito said, straightening his posture, “is there anything you’d like to ask about everything I’ve told you?”

 

Sasuke’s hand lifted to his left eye streaked with blood, a seemingly subconscious movement on his part as his teeth grinded and his Sharingan eyes studied Obito through his mask.  He shook his head, an almost violent movement, as he grasped the blanket covering his lap with whitening knuckles.

 

“No,” Sasuke said, sounding amazingly impassive, given his apparent emotional state.

 

“What will you do?” Obito asked.  “Will you seek revenge on the Hidden Leaf for Itachi’s suffering?  Or will you follow in your late brother’s footsteps?”

 

Kakashi frowned at the back of Obito’s head.  Itachi hadn’t suffered, at least not in any way  _ caused _ by the Hidden Leaf, as far as Kakashi remembered.  He knew better than to question Obito about it in the midst of this meeting.  It had intent behind it. Most likely for using Sasuke as a means to their purpose.  For Obito to even be able to  _ ask _ that question of a Hidden Leaf-raised ninja and not expect an immediate refusal, he must’ve had something in the works.  Kakashi was bemused by Sasuke’s lack of immediate response. Kakashi would admit the Hidden Leaf did him no favors, but he never actively pursued  _ revenge _ against it.  He couldn’t imagine what Sasuke could’ve endured to prompt a desire for revenge against his home.  Kakashi doubted he would ever agree to Obito’s suggestion, even if he thought it was coming from Madara Uchiha.

 

“I’m going to…” Sasuke said, his eyes snapping up and whirling into a mangekyou Sharingan pattern, “make the Hidden Leaf  _ pay _ for what they did to Itachi!”

 

Kakashi raised an unimpressed brow.  Now the Hidden Leaf did something to Itachi?  Itachi, who’d massacred his entire clan? It made no sense, especially if Zetsu’s report was anything to go by.  Sasuke had just killed Itachi by his own hand. It seemed backward to start avenging the older brother  _ now _ .  But Kakashi wouldn’t refute the inconsistency, not when  _ Madara _ acted as if this was exactly the answer he expected.

 

“Good,” Obito said.  “Then the Akatsuki will help you.  We just need you to do something for us first.  Kakashi.”

 

“Hm?”

 

“You’ll be Sasuke’s partner.  I want you two to-“

 

“No,” Sasuke snapped.  Kakashi didn’t bother to look at the disdain written on his face.  It was evident enough in the boy’s voice. “I have my own team.”

 

“Ah, yes,” Obito said in that silky Madara voice, “your team.  Take them with you if you wish. But Kakashi must go along if you expect me to trust you.”

 

Kakashi sneered, but no one saw it beneath his mask.  He wouldn’t work with this team and set himself up for betrayal.  He wasn’t even sure he wanted to accept this  _ partnership _ .  “What is our mission?”

 

Obito turned to him, spreading his palms.  “I need you two to capture the eight tails.  Zetsu can lead the way. Pain, meanwhile, is capturing the nine tails.”

 

“Nine tails?” Sasuke asked.

 

Obito turned to him.  “That’s not a problem, is it?”

 

“No,” Sasuke said, glancing between Kakashi and Obito.  “Of course not.”

 

Kakashi nodded toward the cavern’s exit.  “Let’s go then, Sasuke. Forget your team.  The two of us can handle this on our own.”

 

When footsteps didn’t immediately follow, Kakashi halted.  He waited for the clatter of footsteps expected after the delay.  Any clever Shinobi would hesitate before rushing forward and trusting him, but would be unwise to fail to follow Kakashi’s instruction.  When the footsteps didn’t come, Kakashi’s shoulders tightened. He addressed Sasuke without turning around.

 

“You’re not scared of me,” Kakashi drawled, a smile forming on his face as his shoulders relaxed, “are you?”

 

Sasuke pushed forward, his shoulders brushing Kakashi and giving him a rough shove as he passed.  “Scared of a man with a  _ borrowed _ Sharingan?  Don’t make me laugh.”

 

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at Sasuke’s back as he disappeared into the shadows up ahead.  His teeth clenched as he glared at his watchful old partner and muttered insults to his new partner.  It seemed every Shinobi who went rogue was as terrible a waste of space as Kakashi was. When ninja lived long enough, they all went rotten eventually.  Sasuke was on his way to decomposing faster than most.

 

* * *

 

Concentrating on stillness and nature at a time like this was one of the hardest things Naruto ever had to do.  He’d never be able to do this training without his clones, and so he was grateful for them, but even so...this was a challenge.  The pain of Master Jiraiya’s death sat heavy with him. The pain of another failed attempt to retrieve Sasuke suffocated his heart, not to mention the failure of his pleas with the Kages to have mercy on Sasuke, to not label him as a rogue ninja.  Then there was Madara Uchiha’s reveal about Itachi’s past, true as it may or may not have been. Naruto knew it to be the truth. It only made him feel worse about failing to help Sasuke. Then there was the fact that the Akatsuki wanted him, or more accurately, the nine tails inside of him.  They would come for him. They might attack the Hidden Leaf simply because he lived there. Naruto wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he caused even one of his friends to be hurt.

 

Something smacked Naruto in the side.  It stung as he touched the welt blossoming beneath his ribcage.

 

“Ow!” Naruto cried, squinting his eyes to catch his tears.

 

“Concentrate!” Old Fukasaku said, waving the whip in his little webbed green fingers.  “Concentrate, Naruto-boy!”

 

Naruto groaned as he watched his shadow clones dissipate into puffs of clouds.  Now he’d have to start all over again, but he supposed it was better this way than allowing himself to end up looking exactly like Fukasaku.

 

“Okay,” Naruto said with newfound determination, forming the sign to bring new clones to life.  “I’ll get it right this time, ya know!”

 

He wouldn’t let Pervy Sage down.  The reality of Jiraiya’s death continued to settle in waves for him, getting deeper and more painful each time Naruto thought about him.  But with all the other new information pouring in and overwhelming Naruto, he didn’t have time to linger on Master Jiraiya. He was under pressure to get this right, which was the most important thing right now.  With Sage mode, he could stand a chance against Pain. He could be the child of prophecy his master foresaw. He wouldn’t let anyone down. He closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and pushed out the distractions of the Akatsuki and Sasuke and all the other recent events.  He focused on nothing but being one with nature.

 

* * *

 

Kakashi blinked.  And blinked again.  He looked toward Sasuke now donning the same Akatsuki robes as him, but the teen’s face was a mask of unreadable expression.  Kakashi was sure this display they both were witnessing was some sort of jutsu of the eight tail’s meant to convince the enemy to retreat.  Kakashi was almost willing to succumb to it, if only to spare his ears from another awful rap lyric.

 

“So,” Kakashi said to Sasuke, ignoring the flamboyant muscled man calling  _ them _ fools, “your move first, or mine?”

 

Sasuke raised a brow at Kakashi.  “What type of technique were you planning?”

 

“Well,” Kakashi said, trying not to smile as he pulled back the wide sleeves of his robe.  It was easier to concentrate now that the rapping was almost dulled completely by his conversing with Sasuke.  “My clone’s already planted. One of us just needs to drive him back, and-“

 

“Fine.” Sasuke reared his fist back, his black eyes flashing red between his curtains of black hair as he activated his Sharingan.

 

Kakashi braced for the fight which was about to begin, not due to be a simple one.  This opponent was a jinchuriki, after all. And this one, unlike the earlier ones other teams had pursued, seemed cooperative with his jinchuriki; he was on a whole new level.  They weren’t two Shinobi trying to take down another ninja - they were two Shinobi trying to take down a man loaded with chakra  _ and _ a tailed beast.  Kakashi almost regretted his decision to turn away the rest of Sasuke’s team, even if they were bound to betray him afterward.

 

He watched Sasuke run along the water’s surface, drawing toward the island where the jinchuriki of the eight tails resided alone.  Purple oversized tentacles emerged from the rear of the jinchuriki before Sasuke even reached him, pouring out of the large man with more insistence than his terrible rhymes.  They writhed and pulled together as they drew near Sasuke. Kakashi pressed his hands together, preparing a water jutsu. Just in time, his clone shot from the ground, slashing a shimmering chidori across the tentacles whipping around behind the jinchuriki.  

 

The moment of distraction and weakened tentacles was all Sasuke needed.  As the eight-tails jinchuriki’s eyes went wide, Sasuke weaved a fireball jutsu.  At his close range, the jinchuriki had no chance of dodging the blast. He was going to have to take it.

 

“That's it!” Clone Kakashi said as he watched Sasuke and severed another wildly waving tentacle with the knife edge of his chidori.

 

The clone vanished after that move, having exhausted all the chakra he’d been granted, and succumbing to Sasuke’s flame attack.  A cloud of orange and red spread across the air between Sasuke and the jinchuriki, its heat visible in the transparent waves deforming the blue sky around it.  A flash of purple broke through the fire. Kakashi gasped as Sasuke was knocked aside, his face reddening from the impact of an oversized tentacle slamming his left side.  The tail raised straight in the air over Sasuke and tensed in preparation to fall with a tremendous force. Before the tailed beast could crush Sasuke where he lied, Kakashi activated his Kamui, sending the wayward tail to another dimension with a narrowing of his eye.

 

As Kakashi said, “Kamui!” and watched the tail splurt red from one end and swirl out of existence at the other, Sasuke said, “Amaterasu!”

 

The remaining parts of the tailed beast exploded into black flames while red poured from Sasuke’s left eye and down his cheek.  Kakashi ran forward, intent on making sure the burning jinchuriki was defeated, not coming back for a second sneak attack. He sparked a chidori in his palm, clutching his hand open so the lightning streamed in all directions around him.  His Sharingan detected no movement aside from the dancing of the black flames beneath the thick cloud of smoke left by Sasuke’s Amaterasu.

 

Kakashi slowed, knowing he didn’t want to make contact with  _ that _ .  He’d heard of the Amaterasu flames which could never be extinguished.  That jinchuriki wasn’t coming out of this one easily.

 

Kakashi looked to Sasuke, who stared sullenly at the crumpled form of the jinchuriki on the ground.  “Don’t kill him,” Kakashi warned.

 

Sasuke’s Sharingan spun as his left eye twitched, his face flinched, and then the flames dissipated.  A weary moan slipped from the jinchuriki before he fell into silence. Kakashi slid his headband down over his sharingan.

 

Sasuke looked at Kakashi.  “You carry him.”

 

“It seems we’re at an impasse, Sasuke,” Kakashi said, meeting Sasuke’s cold stare with indifference, “because I was just going to tell you the same thing.  It’s too bad we don’t have that team of yours around now.”

 

“And whose fault is that?”

 

Kakashi studied Sasuke’s eyes, that cold indifference held within them and hint of misplaced animosity aimed toward Kakashi.  If he was being honest, Kakashi would have to say Sasuke reminded him of himself back in his early ANBU days. Or maybe he needed to admit to himself that he hadn’t changed as much as he thought he had.  One thing was clear: nothing in this world would stop Sasuke Uchiha from achieving his goals. He wasn’t going to save the people of this world like Kakashi and Obito. He wasn’t here to help with the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

 

“Don’t think I don’t know,” Kakashi warned him, darkening his gaze, “that you’ll turn against us the first chance you get.”

 

Sasuke met his glare.  “Don’t think I don’t know the same.”

 

Kakashi slipped his hands into the pockets of his robes and assessed Sasuke with a long look.  It wasn’t a question of who was using who now, but who could out-use the other. If Sasuke’s goal was the destruction of the Hidden Leaf, it would be after Pain's devastation upon the village that Sasuke would turn against them.  Kakashi would be ready. He’d make sure the Akatsuki was ready. Obito was taking a risk recruiting this kid. Kakashi lowered his eyes to the crisped half-man, half-beast cooling on the ground. Sasuke  _ had _ been vital in capturing the eight tails.  Maybe, sometimes, Obito knew what he was doing.  Kakashi would never tell  _ him _ that.

 

Kakashi lifted the headband concealing his Sharingan once again, felt the chakra drain and burn as it whirled to activate Kamui.  He focused on the purple and black marled body and exerted just enough chakra to send it into another dimension. “There. That takes care of that.”

 

Sasuke’s jaw dropped.  “You...got rid of it?”

 

“Yes,” Kakashi deadpanned.  “Because  _ that _ makes perfect sense after risking my life to capture it.”

 

Sasuke huffed, showing Kakashi a tight-lipped irritation Kakashi saw as almost vulnerable.  He was a cold-blooded killer, no doubt, but still childlike in many ways. Sasuke was definitely much different than his last partner.  He was broken, but not to the same irredeemable degree as Obito.  There was something _somewhere_ in this world for which Sasuke still held feelings.  Obito saw nothing but darkness.  Kakashi saw the darkness too, now.  He almost envied Sasuke.  It would be nice to believe the world as it existed had something more to offer.

 

“It’s in a safe place,” Kakashi said in an attempt to avoid any more of Sasuke's questions or snarky remarks.  “Now, we find a place to regain our strength and wait for Zetsu.”

  
Kakashi would be interested in what had happened at the Hidden Leaf.  He doubted anyone there could counter Pain’s immense Rinnegan powers. Now that they had the eight tails captured, combined with the nine tails Pain should have retrieved, it was time.  They could finally summon the ten tails. They could begin the Infinite Tsukuyomi and realize the world in which they  _ should _ live, the world in which no one ever had to suffer or die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to read over the Shippuden storyline multiple times to make sure I wasn't getting these events out of order! Canon divergence is the most challenging to write imo, for this reason. But it's straight now, focusing on the events that matter to this storyline. Thank you all for reading. I always enjoy your reviews :D


	10. War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The pacing moves quickly here- I believe this chapter covers multiple seasons of storyline progress, but imo, the War arc could’ve used some condensing. Because this story is Kakashi-centric and there are a lot of events occurring that don’t really involve him, the quick progress was necessary not to bog you down with excess word count. Hopefully you like it just as it is, but if you were looking forward to a detailed account of certain events, I’m sorry in advance. Again, I’m enjoying everyone’s reviews, so good or bad, please let me know how you liked the chapter

~~  
~~

Sakura had trembled as she knelt over bodies losing chakra too quickly for her to replenish.  So many had died at the hands of the six Pains. She’d saved as many as she’d lost, but those small victories didn’t make her feel any better.  She’d tried to quell her quivering breath as the green light in her palms had expired, admitting defeat on another life.

A faraway blast had caught her ear, and Sakura had looked up from the rubble surrounding her, peering through chalky layers of thick brown dust - all that remained of the Leaf Village’s shops and homes.  Pain was out there. Lady Tsunade had used up almost all her chakra saving lives. Naruto hadn’t returned from Mt. Myoboku yet, even after being summoned. The entire Leaf Village had been _leveled_.  Looking around at the devastation had wrenched at her gut.

Sakura had screamed, throwing her head back and letting her voice carry in the open air.

The blasting in the distance had continued as Sakura had screamed for Naruto, wishing if he didn’t come, _someone_ could help them.

Her shoulders had sagged and she fell in around herself, shaking, letting pink strands cascade around both sides of her face.  When another explosive noise had rocked the landscape of barren wasteland the Leaf had become, Sakura felt a ripple vibrate from the ground to her heart.  She'd looked up sharply, certain, for some unknown reason, that something good had finally happened.

As she had looked toward the source of the distant noise, people around her had begun to murmur.  Something large had loomed on the horizon, which hadn’t been there before. With a gasp, Sakura had looked to Hinata, whose pale eyes had stared that way, flanked by strained veins, while her mouth hung open.  Sakura knew no one could see better what had been happening than the Hyuuga girl.

Sakura knew the answer to her question before she asked, “Hinata?”

“It’s N-Naruto!” Hinata had said breathily, rising to her feet.  “Naruto!”

Sakura had felt a tug at the corners of her lips for the first time since the start of the attack.  Naruto was the Hidden Leaf’s hope. Sakura had faith that in spite of the irreparable devastation, Naruto could make it right somehow.  If anyone could do it, he could.

And he did.

* * *

 

“I don’t understand,” Obito said to Zetsu, mirroring Kakashi’s thoughts, “Konan’s dead, too?”

“No,” Zetsu said with a quiet shake of his head.  “I said Konan’s _gone_.  She’s left us.  Returned to the Hidden Rain.”

Kakashi propped a hand on his chin, rubbing glove against mask as he thought to himself.  “What would _possibly_ turn them against us?”

Obito growled.  “Nagato was supposed to use that jutsu for me, not the people of the Hidden Leaf.  Now we’ll have to retrieve the Rinnegan.”

Kakashi raised a brow.  “This is the first _I’m_ hearing of this.”

Obito leveled him a glare.  “You don’t need to know everything.”

“What’s this Rinnegan?” Sasuke said.

Kakashi’s eye turned in the direction of the boy he’d temporarily forgotten.  Judging by the way Obito tensed, Obito didn’t remember Sasuke was there, either.  For someone so secretive about his plan and identity, he was being remarkably careless.  Kakashi sighed. Every time he thought he’d stopped thinking about current Obito as the Obito of his past, Obito had to turn around and prove he _was_ the same fool Kakashi remembered.

“The Rinnegan,” Obito said, reclaiming his regal Madara voice, “is mine.  I _gave_ it to Nagato and now I need it back.  Kakashi.”

“Let me guess,” Kakashi said on an impatient breath.  “You want me to retrieve the Rinnegan from Konan.”

“And you,” Obito said, turning to Sasuke without even acknowledging his agreement with Kakashi with as much as a nod.  “I have to track someone down and stop him before _he_ abandons us, too.”

“Who?” Sasuke said, sounding near indignant.

“Both of you,” Obito growled, shifting his gaze between them, “are in no position to question me now.  You failed to retrieve the eight tails.”

“I left it in Kamui, _Madara_ ,” Kakashi drawled.

“And I _took_ what you left, but the gedo statue was only able to absorb a fraction of its chakra.” His eyes narrowed as they shifted again to Sasuke’s widening eyes.  “What you two captured was nothing more than a clone.”

Kakashi’s eyes bulged.  Clones could be tricky when formed by jinchuriki.  He and Sasuke had both seen the eight tails’ every move with their Sharingan.  Usually, Kakashi was discerning and would never make such a careless mistake. But he knew Obito made no mistakes in regard to the gedo statue and the plan.  If Obito said they hadn’t retrieved enough chakra, they _didn’t_ catch the real eight tails.

“Shit,” Kakashi muttered under his breath.

“He must’ve used the water so my Sharingan couldn’t catch the switch,” Sasuke said, his brows furrowed and eyes darting side to side as his mind raced through the same replay of events Kakashi was imagining now.  It was the piece of tail severed by his chidori. _That_ was how he hid his clone from their eyes.

“ _Two_ sharingans,” Obito hissed.  “Two! And he fooled both of you.”

“Oh.  Well I’m sure if you were there-“ Kakashi bit his tongue before saying something sardonic to Obito in front of Sasuke.  

As much as he was irritated with Obito and wanted to _tell_ him how wrong he was, his Madara Uchiha front was the head of their organization.  Weakening his image would only weaken _them_.  Obito caught him with a murderous glare in spite of Kakashi stopping himself, which was reward enough.  Obito knew what Kakashi wanted to say without him having to say it.

Kakashi let his expression ease into a smile.  “If you were there, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Sasuke scoffed at that, causing Kakashi’s smile to widen.  It was nice to have a partner of the same mind for a change.

“Zetsu,” Obito said to the doe-eyed figure half-planted in the ground behind Sasuke, “I need you to retrieve Kakuzu and bring him to meet me and Kisame.  I’ll send them after the eight tails to do the job right.”

Kakashi crossed his arms.  “You sure you don’t want to leave Kisame to it and send Kakuzu with _me_?  Since I’m so incompetent and all.”

Kakashi didn’t miss Obito’s withering glare shadowed beneath his mask.  Sasuke’s snort was another confirmation of Sasuke’s similar thinking to Kakashi’s - he didn’t appreciate the jab to his competence from Obito, either, even if Sasuke _thought_ it was coming from the legendary Madara Uchiha.

“I trust you’ll be able to handle Konan with Sasuke’s help,” Obito said with a dismissive wave of his hand, before turning to lock eyes with Kakashi.  “And I trust you with the merchandise you’re retrieving.”

Kakashi’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he acknowledged what Obito was really saying; he conveyed his thoughts in a way only Obito would recognize.  Obito didn’t trust Sasuke with the Rinnegan. He didn’t trust Kakashi as much as Kakashi would like, either, or he wouldn’t have bothered with that warning.

“So,” Zetsu cooed in a sing-song voice, “do you think Kakuzu will give me any trouble?”

Obito chuckled.  “He makes more money with the Akatsuki than he ever has anywhere else.  This war will only increase that exponentially. And I’m sure he has no qualms about Hidan’s fate, given his admiration for his _former_ partners.”

Zetsu smiled, revealing a row of jagged teeth.  “Well, I’ll be off then. Until later.”

Zetsu gave Kakashi and Sasuke one final look before disappearing into the ground.  Kakashi pressed his shoulders back, prepared to move forward with his work as well.  Konan had the Rinnegan in the Hidden Rain. Obito needed that Rinnegan for something important, most likely summoning the gedo statue as Nagato had been doing, to awaken the ten tails.  When Kakashi thought over Konan’s formidable jutsu and her collective approach to combat, he decided it wasn’t such a bad thing Sasuke was coming along for the mission.

It was _after_ defeating Konan that Kakashi would have to be wary of Sasuke.  The Akatsuki had no time to waste on thwarting their traitors. Every day he spent in this world, Kakashi felt a little more dead inside.  He needed the Infinite Tsukuyomi to begin so badly he could _taste_ it.

“And Sasuke,” Obito added, just before being whisked away by Kamui, “come see me after the Hidden Rain.  I expect I’ll have interesting information for you regarding the village you wish to destroy.”

* * *

 

Gaara felt tension in the air.  He’d been kazekage for a few years now, but never attended a meeting such as this one.  In a secret location, guarded by samurai, in the company of every other Kage of the ninja world, including the Hidden Leaf’s newly appointed Danzo Shimura, the atmosphere was heavy.  The Kage looked one another over with suspicion. Some looked down on Gaara, he knew. Whether it was because he was once a jinchuriki or because he was the only one among them under the age of twenty, he wasn’t sure.  Both were equally likely causes for their misplaced disdain.

Gaara would handle the situation.  He was sure they could come to some sort of agreement here and handle this Akatsuki mess.  The only Kage truly making him uneasy was Danzo. Gaara was gravely disappointed Lady Tsunade was in a coma after their recent Akatsuki attack.  He hated imagining what kind of grief Naruto endured while watching that destruction strike his home and his friends.

The negotiations were under way, and aside from some jabs from the tsuchikage, Gaara thought it had started out rather well.  His siblings seemed impressed with the way he handled himself. But then an odd being arose in the center of their conference, announcing Sasuke Uchiha’s presence and intent to kill.

While the Raikage squashed the intruder with one lightning-fast move, others rushed off to meet Sasuke for the fight.  Gaara knew Sasuke was a friend of Naruto’s, fighting a battle similar to what Gaara himself had endured. He remembered the way Naruto had helped him realize he wasn’t alone.  He wanted to do the same for Sasuke.

As Gaara stood, intending to join the fight, a rush of swirling air appeared just above the table of the kage’s meeting.  A masked man in an Akatsuki robe appeared, looking them all over. He identified himself as Madara Uchiha. Just like his predecessor of an intruder, he wasn’t making the smartest move, appearing in front of several powerful kages, unless he truly did have the kind of power Madara was known for.  Gaara gathered his chakra in the sand, preparing to attack. The Akatsuki man remained calm, in spite of all the remaining Kage reacting like Gaara, and sat on the table with a relaxed whirl of his hand through the air.

“I am here with a message of peace,” the man said.  “We Akatsuki do not want any more death. We will end the fighting right here if you Kage agree to hand over the remaining jinchuriki.”

Danzo shot to his feet.  “The jinchuriki belong to the Hidden villages!  You have no right to them!”

“We’ve already taken most of them,” the man said with a flippant wave.  “It would only balance the power between the villages if the two remaining jinchuriki are handed over.”

“You,” the old tsuchikage growled, “are you really Madara Uchiha?”

“I am, Tsuchikage,” he said.  “You’ve funded our efforts well these past few years.  We couldn’t have reached this point without your enlisting our services.  Now, all we ask is a little more cooperation from you and the other kage.”

The mizukage shook a loose strand of red hair from her narrowed eyes. “And what is it you expect to gain from this cooperation?”

“My dream,” Madara said.  “A dream for all Shinobi, really.  I call it Project Tsuki no Me.”

“Tsuki no Me?” Gaara said under his breath.

“Project Tsuki no Me is a solution of peace.  Using the power of the gedo statue, we Akatsuki will summon the ten tails and use its power to activate the Infinite Tsukuyomi.  The entire world will be put under a genjutsu, an endless dream. No one will ever have to know death or pain again. You can all live in your perfect dream.  No one has to die.”

“That _is_ death,” Gaara spat, his teeth grinding.

“The kazekage’s right,” the Tsuchikage said.  “Dreaming endlessly in a genjutsu, we may as well be dead already.  I’ll never agree to that.”

“I won’t either,” Danzo said.  “You can’t have our jinchuriki.”

Madara’s barely visible Sharingan eye crinkled in a sly smile.  “You sure you’re not just saying that because keeping the nine tails to yourself puts the Hidden Leaf at an advantage over the other lands?”

“It does,” said the tsuchikage, narrowing his eyes at Danzo, “doesn’t it?”

“If you hand over the jinchuriki by tomorrow, I can promise-“

“It’s not going to happen!” The tsuchikage blasted.  “I don’t care who has the advantage now. I won’t allow you to do what you’re planning.  It’s madness!”

“Right!” The mizukage cried.

Gaara nodded.  “And I’m sure if the raikage were here, rather than dealing with an attack from one of your associates, he’d agree.  The eight tails _is_ his brother, after all.”

“Fine,” Madara said, appearing to bristle as he rose to a standing position. “Then if you won't cooperate, consider this my declaration of war.  The Akatsuki is now at war with the Shinobi nations. We will take those jinchuriki by force to complete our task!”

Enraged, Gaara launched bullets of sand at the man, but they all hopelessly passed through him.  As the mizukage stood to make her move, Madara vanished in a spiral that blended the blues of the wall behind him and the black and red of his coat into a single point, spinning until the blue overtook everything and no trace was left of Madara Uchiha.  Gaara heaved a sigh, both relieved to see him gone and frustrated he couldn’t do more to stop him. He wouldn’t let other jinchuriki endure what he had, especially not Naruto. He’d had enough of jinchuriki being treated as weapons, monsters, and nothing more.

“Damn them!” the tsuchikage said, pounding a fist on the table.  “This can’t happen!”

“Another war,” the mizukage said.  “Whoever thought it would come to this?”

“One thing’s for certain,” Gaara said as he looked around the room.  “We all need to work together if we’re going to defeat the Akatsuki. We’ve already seen how powerful they are.  It’ll take all our best efforts to protect Naruto and Killer Bee.”

“Then,” Mifune said, “we need to take steps to organize.  We’ll need to choose a leader if we’re all to work together, and seeing that the Land of Iron is neutral in this conflict, I suggest I choose which of you should head the military.”

“I think I should,” Danzo Shimura said.  “The Hidden Leaf still has a jinchuriki to protect.  We’ll put _all_ our effort forth.”

“Wait,” the tsuchikage said.  “Shouldn’t we decide this after the raikage is here?  He has the same reason to elect himself.”

“True,” Mifune said, stroking his pointed beard.

“But he doesn’t have the controlled reasoning Danzo has,” the mizukage said.  “We all saw the short temper he exhibited here at the beginning of this meeting.”

“Yes,” Mifune said.  “He may be _too_ emotionally invested in protecting his jinchuriki.”

Gaara gritted his teeth.  The samurai couldn’t possibly consider Danzo as the head of the entire Shinobi military.  He’d only just been elected Hokage. He seemed anything but trustworthy in Gaara’s eyes.

“Hold it!” One guard stepped forward from behind the curtains providing privacy in their meeting room - an attendant of the mizukage’s - pointing a finger at the Hokage.  “He’s manipulating the situation with a Sharingan! Pull back the bandages over your left eye, sir.”

By the time Danzo’s manipulations of seating the thoughts of those attending the meeting were revealed to the summit, the fight with Sasuke Uchiha had drawn to a close without Gaara’s intervention.  Madara whisked Sasuke away before he could be killed, while Danzo and his men managed to flee the summit. The war had not started off in the Shinobi nations’ favor. The Hidden Leaf would need a new Hokage if Lady Tsunade didn’t wake soon.

Gaara couldn’t think of a single candidate he’d recommend.

* * *

 

Konan had been ready for him.

Kakashi didn’t expect any less from her.  He’d breached the city ahead of Sasuke, using a shadow clone and a roundabout approach to throw her off.  He knew none of that would defeat her or convince her to hand over the Rinnegan, though. Sasuke was his trump card - the one thing Konan wouldn’t expect from him.

She’d appeared behind Kakashi, a flutter of papers blowing in the wind before he could make his polite request for what was owed to Obito.

Konan fought well.  When she nearly killed Kakashi with an endless array of paper bombs, Sasuke jumped in. He was too late to spare Kakashi from enduring massive pain and heavy burns that came too fast for Kamui to counter, but fast enough to destroy Konan before she had time to configure another strategy.

After her body plummeted in the water, Kakashi excused Sasuke.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.  “You don’t want me to continue this mission with you?”

“The second part -“ Kakashi stopped with a grunt when pain shot up his arm, cradling his burnt arm in his bleeding hand “- is my assignment, not yours.”

“You sure you’re in any condition to finish it?”

Kakashi’s lip pulled into a one-sided smile Sasuke likely didn’t see beneath his mask.  “I’ll manage somehow.”

Sasuke shrugged, making a show of looking flippant about it, though Kakashi saw through the act.  Sasuke’s curiosity was piqued. There was no telling what he’d do if he set his hands on the Rinnegan.  Kakashi would take them quickly from Nagato’s corpse. Only one would go to Obito - who would want to retain the benefits of his Sharingan in his other eye.  The other, Kakashi would have to hide in a safe place.

“Fine,” Sasuke said finally, turning away from Kakashi, leaving him bruised and battered in the wreckage of their watery battlefield with Konan.  “But consider this the end of my arrangement with the Akatsuki. I have my own plans in mind.”

“Really?” Kakashi asked dubiously, his suspicion aroused.

Sasuke took off without another word, not hearing Kakashi's mostly self-spoken word.  He didn’t know what Sasuke was up to, but he doubted he’d like it. The only possibility it could be anything playing in the Akatsuki’s favor would be if it had to do with that bait about the Hidden Leaf Obito had thrown.

Kakashi heaved a sigh and lowered his headband over his Sharingan again now that his fight was over.  He’d retrieve the Rinnegan, heal himself, and report back to Zetsu. He had to know how the others had managed with the eight tails, and what actions the Shinobi nations were taking against them now that they’d decided to fight against the peace of their Infinite Tsukuyomi.

* * *

 

Tsunade massaged her fingers across her pounding forehead.  A war had begun while she was unconscious. It was bad enough the village was in the early phases of rebuilding after Pain and they still had to be prepared for more attacks on Naruto from the Akatsuki.  The only bright side in all of this was that the nations all seemed prepared to work together for once, which is what her grandfather would’ve wanted when he started a Leaf Village aiming for peace all those years ago.

Nevertheless, another war was here.  Many people would die.

Naruto, the last remaining jinchuriki, was heading in to join them.  

Killer Bee, they’d just learned, was killed by the attack of two Akatsuki on the secret island to which the jinchuriki were sent for training.

That Kakuzu who’d killed Asuma and his team had one too many lives to be defeated.  Just when Yamato had taken out his last heart, the other Akatsuki member who’d found the island, Kisame Hoshigaki, took Killer Bee away.  The raikage was beside himself with grief and though he’d been appointed the leader of the Shinobi allied forces, he didn’t seem in any condition now to lead.

Tsunade agreed with the grieving raikage that they couldn’t let Naruto die, too, but she knew how impossible it was to hold Naruto back from a fight once he had his mind set.  Either way, this wasn’t going to be easy. She knew to follow the orders of the man commanding this army, but she also wanted to _allow_ Naruto to fight.  After all, without Naruto, their chances of stopping the Akatsuki were looking slim.  Naruto was their sole target now. They’d have to come for him eventually - and he’d have to defend himself.  Better sooner rather than later, possibly taking the enemy by surprise.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t just _let_ Naruto-“

“No!” The raikage slammed his fist on the table of the command room, cracking it down the center as he glared at Tsunade.  “He’s giving the Akatsuki exactly what they want. If he faces them, they’ll take the nine tails. This entire war will be for nothing!”

“Stopping Naruto won’t be easy,” Tsunade said, shaking her head as Shizune released a sigh at her side.  “We’d better move now. And we’d better _convince_ him that we can defeat the Akatsuki without his help.”

The raikage held up a thick finger, counting off as he spoke.  “Our forces handled the gedo statue, White Zetsu’s clone invasion of our medic camps has been extinguished, and there aren’t many Akatsuki members left.”

Shizune’s brown eyes shot up from the clipboard cradled in her arms.  “Four, to be exact. Hidan is still immortal, but he’s in the ground, thanks to Shikamaru Nara, so we’re not counting him as a threat.  Shikaku Nara’s plan should allow Lord Gaara’s forces to take down Kisame Hoshigaki.  The masked Madara Uchiha hasn’t been seen in awhile - he’s likely extracting the eight tails from Killer Bee.  Kakashi Hatake was last reported to have attacked our commando unit.  We haven’t heard back from them.  Sasuke Uchiha...he hasn’t shown his face yet.  We suspect he’s waiting for Naruto to make a move.”

Tsunade sighed.  “Let me talk to Naruto.  Maybe I can convince that knucklehead not to fight.”

 

She didn’t know whether she hoped to be successful in that plea.  Maybe it would be better that Naruto disobeyed her and fought against Sasuke.  The Uchiha boy had grown quite strong and threatening, yet Naruto still seemed to think there was a chance to turn him around.  Tsunade would think it was impossible - if this wasn’t Naruto.  He had something special about him that could turn this entire war around.  Tsunade felt with every passing hour that she was placing more and more trust in him, whether she’d intended to do so or not.


	11. War

 

Kakashi rushed through the trees, leaping across branches toward the blasts occurring just ahead of him.  After he’d taken down the Shinobi forces’ commando units, Zetsu found him to tell him he was needed  _ here _ .  

 

Obito was powerful, especially with Zetsu aiding his strength, but he was in over his head if he thought he could take on the nine tails jinchuriki alone.  Being a man who’d unleashed it once and witnessed what the nine tails could do to the Hidden Leaf Village, he should’ve known better. Kakashi couldn’t believe he was risking everything right now.  If anything happened to Obito, their plan would fail. The Akatsuki needed him to be the ten tails jinchuriki. Only  _ his _ body enhanced with Hashirama’s cells and the Rinnegan could contain the massive power.

 

If the nine tails jinchuriki killed Obito, Kakashi would make that kid pay dearly for destroying their chances of altering the future.

 

“Does Naruto Uzumaki have help on his side?” Kakashi asked Zetsu as they ran, knowing how the Hidden Leaf ninja tended to work.

 

They wouldn’t send Naruto into a fight like that alone.  They would protect their jinchuriki at all costs and improve their odds by outnumbering their opponents.  That strategy wouldn’t hurt on  _ their _ side either.  Kakashi looked to Zetsu’s vacant grin as a scowl set across his face.  So many Akatsuki had been taken out. Kisame and Kakuzu could help Obito, if only they’d pull away from their current fights.  Sasuke, the ass, seemed to have abandoned them all. He was obviously never in it for the cause, even though he  _ claimed _ he meant to right the wrongs of the ninja world’s predecessors.

 

“There is a powerful taijutsu user by the jinchuriki’s side,” Zetsu said as he leapt across branches, “but neither of them seem to have found a way past Obito’s defenses.”

 

“Good,” Kakashi said.

 

He narrowed his eyes as he sprinted to the light blossoming on the darkening horizon.  The explosion was another indication of the fight, in addition to the screams and shouts Kakashi was now in range to hear.  He recognized the voices - Gai and Naruto. He wasn’t surprised. When Zetsu mentioned taijutsu, Kakashi knew who he’d find.

 

“Other forces are coming, though,” Zetsu said.  “They’ve defeated Kisame; the brains behind their operation have learned of Naruto Uzumaki’s predicament.  They’ll send as many as they can.”

 

Kakashi nodded.  “We’ll have to finish this quickly.”

 

The longer they took to defeat the jinchuriki and retrieve the nine tails’ chakra, the slimmer their chances of success were looking.  Kakashi would have to take down Gai so Obito could retrieve the nine tails and summon the ten tails from the gedo statue. Obito couldn’t take on an entire army by himself, especially not with the strength of five kages and the clever planning of Shikaku Nara on their side.  All Kakashi could rely on for assistance now was Zetsu, possibly Kakuzu, and if necessary, Sasuke. 

 

He raised a brow at Zetsu.  “Kakuzu?”

 

Zetsu hummed as if anticipating this question.  “Dead. Sasuke is confronting the kages with the help of his team Taka.  They won’t join this battle anytime soon.”

 

Kakashi grunted his acknowledgement and doubt in a single breath.  He raised his headband to reveal his Sharingan once again, glad he’d spent these past years training it for this sort of heavy usage.  Fighting directly against Gai’s taijutsu would be suicide if Gai continued developing it at his insane pace, as Obito seemed to have implied after their encounter outside the sand village. Kakashi would need the genjutsu and ninjutsu his Sharingan afforded him in order to defeat his old rival.

 

“What about you, Kakashi?” Zetsu asked.

 

Kakashi blinked, turning his surprised gaze to Zetsu.  “Hm?”

 

“Are you prepared to do what will be required of you?”

 

Kakashi narrowed his eyes just as he spotted the green glowing form leaping into the air above Obito.  Obito stood perched on top of the quaking Gedo Statue, holding a large white fan.

 

“I’m Cold Blooded Kakashi,” he said, clenching his fist and reaching into his pack with the other hand for a kunai, “the Friend Killer, remember?”

 

“Right,” Zetsu said with a sort of giggle that sent shivers down Kakashi’s spine.  “We  _ will _ complete Madara’s Infinite Tsukuyomi.  Soon.”

 

The Infinite Tsukuyomi.  Endless, peaceful dreams.  This was all that mattered now.  It wasn’t about saving the lives of those who fought against this peace, naive and well-meaning as those fools were.  Those who got in the way had to die. Kakashi didn’t have to worry about them being dead for long.

 

Once the Infinite Tsukuyomi began, all who died now would be as alive again as Rin, Minato-Sensei, and his father.

 

* * *

 

Naruto casted a sidelong glance across the devastated battlefield.  He’d been holding his own. But he didn’t know how much longer he could last against this Madara Uchiha with his pesky ability to pass through every one of Naruto’s attacks.  At this point, all Naruto had been doing was exhausting his chakra. Even with Kurama finally willingly giving Naruto assistance, his chakra still had a limit. Naruto had no way of telling  _ how _ this guy seemed to absorb his every attack and come out unscathed.  

 

He might’ve been depleting chakra too, but then there was the chance he wasn’t.  This could be his strategy - to force Naruto to use up all of his chakra until he was vulnerable.  Naruto wouldn’t let the Akatsuki take the last tailed beast for their plans, no matter what, especially now that Kurama was a friend to him.  But at this point, he didn’t know how to stop them. This guy he was dealing with now did not see eye to eye with him the same way Nagato and Konan had.  Nothing he said seemed to get through his way of thinking, not even after Naruto managed to knock that obnoxious mask from his scarred, mismatch-eyed face.

 

The real mask had yet to come off.

 

For the first time since clashing heads with the mastermind behind the Akatsuki’s insane plan - the man who manipulated Nagato and Konan’s well-meaning action for peace into something that nearly destroyed the Hidden Leaf Village and took everyone Naruto loved - a scream sounded from someone  _ other than _ the two of them.

 

Naruto gasped as his head snapped toward the blue flash of light cutting across the clouded sky. The blue glow encased a bodysuit of green - Bushy Brows’ Bushier-Brow-Sensei.  The man with the bowl cut glowed, his aura complementing the fierce fire in his eyes as he jumped in to defend Naruto. Naruto inhaled a sharp breath, his shoulders sagging as he let his chakra slowly rebuild itself, drawing on what Kurama gave from within him.  He’d been holding his own just fine, but he wasn’t sure how the jonin could handle Madara. 

 

“Bushier-Brow-Sensei!” Naruto called to the back of Guy’s jonin vest in warning.

 

“Don’t worry, Naruto!” Guy said, shooting a smile and a thumbs-up over his shoulder.  “You rest now. I’ll hold this guy off. More forces are coming.” He redirected his gaze to the unmasked Madara and cocked his head.  “Do I know you?”

 

“That’s  _ Madara _ !” Naruto said, exasperated with Guy’s inability to remember faces, or why he had to deal with it at a time like this.

 

“Are you sure?” Bushier-Brows said.  Naruto could see him rubbing his chin as the poor guy racked his brain and studied Madara’s face.

 

Madara chuckled.  “Guy. What do you think  _ you _ can do?”

 

Bushier-Brow-Sensei gasped theatrically.  “He  _ knows _ me!”

 

“The Akatsuki have been spying on us all along,” Naruto grumbled.  “So? Are you going to fight him or not?”

 

“Not.”

 

Naruto blinked rapidly and shifted his gaze to the new voice.  He hadn’t heard or sensed the approach of another person, but there he stood, not far from Madara, in his matching coat, mirroring Madara’s gaze with that one red eye.

 

“Rival!” Bushier-Brows cried.

 

The Masked Man moved his lazy gaze from Bushier-Brows’ face to meet Madara’s eyes.  “I see you took off your mask.”

 

Madara sneered, pointing at Naruto.  “ _ He _ did.”

 

Masked Guy looked mildly impressed, as much as one could with hooded eyes, before he swept his gaze over Naruto and nodded toward Bushier-Brows.  “He doesn’t know, does he?”

 

“What do  _ you _ think?”

 

Naruto blinked, confused by the animosity that seemed to be strung into those words.  He was also confused about whatever Bushier-Brows was suspected to know. As the Masked Guy’s eyes crinkled in what Naruto guessed had to be a  _ smile _ formed beneath that black mask, the interaction only confused him more.  He thought the Akatsuki were working  _ for _ Madara Uchiha, the legendary Shinobi who’d fought against the first Hokage himself, but this guy acted like he was intentionally goading the man Naruto infuriatingly hadn’t been able to lay a finger on.

 

Masked Guy shoved his hands into his coat, as if finding pockets beneath the parting fabric.  “I thought you were capturing the jinchuriki by yourself.”

 

“That’s right,” Madara said with a biting tone.

 

“Then…” Masked Guy said with a lazy shrug, his gaze turning back on Naruto, “why haven’t you yet?”

 

“Shut up, you insufferable know-it-all!” Madara said, shaking a gloved fist at Masked Guy.  Naruto exchanged a glance with Bushier-Brows, whose eyes were bulging and mouth was gaping open.  “You wouldn’t criticise if you’d been here.  He’s somehow managed to convince the nine tails to cooperate with him and share its powers.”

 

“Really?” Masked Guy looked more impressed now, meeting Naruto’s eyes.  “That  _ is _ interesting.”

 

“It complicates things,” Madara said, seemingly recapturing his lost control as he exhaled.  He raised his hands as if to attack. “But it’s not a problem. Kakashi, you-“

 

“Kakashi!” Bushier-Brows battle-cried, lunging forward with his arms extended.  

 

Kakashi sidestepped Guy’s attempt to seize him and looked the bushy-browed Sensei over as Guy fell to his knees.

 

“Take care of him,” Madara snarled.  “I’ll finish with this jinchuriki before the reinforcements arrive.”

 

“Fine, Obito,” Masked Guy said, withdrawing his hands from his pockets and spreading his fingers in a conciliatory gesture.

 

“O-Obito?” Bushier-Brows stuttered, shooting to his feet to send a wide-eyed gaze to Madara.

 

Naruto scrunched his brows.  “Obito?”

 

Madara growled.  “Kakashi, you fool!  Don’t try to pretend like that was an accident.” 

 

Naruto couldn’t help noticing that Masked Guy  _ looked _ shamefaced.  But then he threw his hands up.  Shrugged.

 

“You’re still worried about your secret identity?” he said.  “It really doesn’t matter at this point whether they know who you are.”

 

“It’s a  _ distraction _ ,” Madara (Obito, Naruto reconciled) hissed.  “It’s going to waste time. Look at him.”

 

He was referring to Bushier-Brows.  The sensei was looking from Masked Guy to this Obito guy, looking like he was thinking so hard Naruto was surprised not to see steam pouring from his ears.  Naruto scratched his head. Obito was right about the delay. This dilemma they were having gave Naruto time to build up Sage mode, and he wasn’t wasting it.  He stilled, intent on finding his form  _ before _ someone decided to make a move.

 

Bushier-Brows finally focused a twitching glare on Obito.  “ _ You’re _ the reason Kakashi turned on us.  You’ve been with the Akatsuki all this time?  Did Kakashi ever even believe you were dead like the rest of us?”

 

Kakashi chuckled.  “I could say Obito Uchiha still  _ is _ dead.  The man in front of you isn’t our classmate from the academy, Guy.”

 

“No,” Guy said, snapping his glare to the Masked Guy.  “Neither of you are. Can’t you see what you’re doing, Kakashi?  Obito!”

 

“Of course I do,” Masked Guy said, his tone darkening as he narrowed his brows.  “I’m doing exactly what I have to do - what others are too weak to see. I’m helping Obito take us to a world where the old Obito never died and started calling himself Madara Uchiha.  Where friends are still alive.”

 

Bushier-Brows shook his head.  “This isn’t you.”

 

“No?” Masked Guy sounded amused.  “Then who am I?”

 

“This plan will never work, my eternal rival!” Guy said with desperation.  “You can’t kill Naruto! It won’t bring back Rin.”

 

Both Akatsuki men pinned Bushier-Brows with glares that made Naruto want to jump in front of him and protect him.  The dead, miserable looks in their eyes gave Naruto the chills. He’d seen people speak of being hopeless, but he believed now he’d never truly seen hopelessness before this moment.  Nagato and Konan both found their spark of hope with reminders of Master Jiraiya’s teachings and prophecy at least. These two, Naruto didn’t know a way through to them.

 

“Maybe you’re right,” Masked Guy said after careful consideration.  “But I won’t die without trying first.”

 

Naruto felt a lump wedge in his throat.  These were more people in pain like Nagato.  Their outlook on the world was so negative that they were willing to cause others pain just to end their suffering.  They were determined to use Naruto and kill anyone else who got in their way. These men, as children, were friends of Bushier-Brows-Sensei, and Asuma-Sensei, and yet their comrade’s death didn’t seem to deter them from their crazy goal.

 

The power surged through Naruto as a cape encompassed him and he felt all the chakra around him burst into his senses.  His look of concern morphed into one of determination as he set his eyes on Bushier-Brow-Sensei’s old friend back from the dead, Obito.

 

He knew before he had a chance of getting through to these two, he was going to have to knock them down a few pegs.

 

Then, he’d tell them just what he thought of their plans to end the ninja world as they knew it, the world Naruto was striving to rid of hatred and save.

 

* * *

 

It was no surprise that the genjutsu approach worked so well on Guy.  Kakashi always  _ had _ found him easy to fool.  Guy was such a poor match for him that it was pathetic.  As Kakashi tossed another kunai, deflecting the leg sweeping toward him before Guy could meet his side with that awesome power he packed, Kakashi caught a glimpse of Obito’s fight with the jinchuriki.  Minato’s son was very good with that sage mode Jiraiya must’ve taught him. He reminded Kakashi a lot of his old Sensei, especially with that cape billowing behind him, resembling the Fourth’s Hokage robes.  Kakashi was sure Minato-Sensei regretted now sealing the nine tails within his son. Kakashi would much rather extract the tailed demon from someone else, but it had to be Naruto, the last remnant of Kushina and Minato.  Obito had no trouble killing the parents all those years ago, so Kakashi figured he wasn’t one to complain about killing the son. 

 

Now wasn’t a time for remembering them, anyway.  Guy had opened another gate. Kakashi turned his Sharingan eye on him, wary.  He knew better than to tangle with Guy’s taijutsu once he got serious. He couldn’t imagine how much Guy had improved over these past years if he’d been keeping up his relentless training routine.

 

“Kakashi!” Guy called his name, once again.  “I don’t want to kill you, Rival. Please, come to your senses.  Help me save Naruto and help  _ him _ save the world.”

 

Kakashi looked up toward the darkening sky, feigning consideration of such a stupid suggestion.  Night would fall soon. Once the moon was out, the Infinite Tsukuyomi could begin. No, he wasn’t giving any real consideration to Guy’s plea.  Like he’d go this far and suddenly change his mind because Guy was telling him it was the  _ right _ thing to do.  Guy had tried that back in the ANBU days.  Just like then, Kakashi didn’t want to hear a word of it now.  What these idiots didn’t realize was that all they were protecting was their pathetic existence in hell.  Kakashi and Obito were  _ saving _ them.  They just didn’t see it.

 

“My senses are sharper than they’ve ever been, Guy,” Kakashi said, narrowing his eyes.  “I’ll help Obito save this world. Or at least, save the people  _ from _ it.”

 

Guy’s answering roar was loaded with determination and a devastation deeper than Kakashi even thought him capable. His momentary shock caused by the unexpected sound made Kakashi hesitate.  Kakashi struck out his arm to block Guy’s punch too slowly, without enough power behind it. Pain throbbed through his head as his vision flashed. The rocky surface of their battleground seemed to rise up toward him.  He met his hands to the ground and somersaulted away from Guy. When he whirled around, Guy was already on him. Kakashi shook his head and gritted his teeth as he pulled out a kunai, whirled it between his fingers, and then struck downward.  Blood spurted in the air as his weapon met fleshy resistance.

 

At the same time, pain struck Kakashi’s back and tore through him.  It gripped him so incredibly as it ripped through him that he let his body collapse and mold into Guy’s crippled embrace.  Guy moaned and staggered as Kakashi panted and tried to push down the pain.

 

When Kakashi looked down to his blood-coated abdomen, he found it joined with Guy’s torn flak jacket by a pale hand dancing with white bolts of chakra.  His chidori. But this wasn’t  _ his _ chidori.  He shot a look over his shoulder just in time to receive face-first the elbow aimed for his head.  Kakashi fell to the ground with a thud that shook and jostled the painful hole now filling his abdomen.

 

“S-Sasuke Uchiha,” Guy said, his knees trembling and giving out before he crumpled to the ground beside Kakashi.  His dark eyes were wide with shock before they seemed to glaze over as he fell onto his back. Kakashi held his stomach and crawled forward.  He didn’t know where he thought he was going, but he needed to get away from Sasuke.

 

“Sasuke!” Naruto’s scream came from somewhere off in the distance.

 

Kakashi heard the footsteps of pursuit.  He turned to look over his shoulder, clenching his teeth and narrowing his eyes as he spotted Sasuke with the chidori, looking smug about stealing his technique.  Sasuke met Kakashi’s eyes as he extinguished the lightning blade. Cocky bastard.

 

“S-Sasuke,” Kakashi managed, choking between words, “just whose side are you on?”

 

He’d gone for the kill with Guy, but had no qualms about hitting Kakashi with the same attack.  Not that Kakashi expected any loyalty or special consideration from his most recent Akatsuki partner, but Sasuke’s motives made no sense to him.  If he wanted to turn against the Akatsuki, he had to have a different goal from theirs. But he’d made it clear to Obito that he wanted to destroy the Hidden Leaf for what the village had done to Itachi.  He knew nothing in his short life but revenge and hatred. He should’ve embraced an idea like the Infinite Tsukuyomi without hesitation. 

 

“Sasuke!” Naruto cried again, his voice closer now.  “What are you doing? You hit Bushier-Brow-Sensei!”

 

Kakashi snorted a laugh that pained him as it wracked his abdomen.  Naruto spoke as if he honestly thought Sasuke wasn’t  _ aiming _ for Kakashi’s old classmate.  Kakashi had no illusions that Sasuke was aiming for and had betrayed  _ him _ .  The hole in his chest pooling with his blood was his aching proof. A cough was forced from his throat, as if just  _ thinking _ of the injury tore at his lungs.

 

“Kakashi,” Sasuke said, hovering over him, “I’m on  _ my _ side.  I won’t let you Akatsuki realize your warped plans any more than I care to help Naruto or the five corrupt kage.  I’ll protect this world in my own way.”

 

Kakashi growled as his eyelids grew heavy and his crawling slowed to a stop.  “So basically, you have no idea what -“ he gagged on the blood filling his mouth and pooling in his mask as he tried to laugh - “you’re doing.”

 

That comment aptly earned him a kick to the face, which caught his chin, made him bear down on his tongue, and knocked him on his back.  Kakashi laughed in spite of the pain and his energy draining from him.

 

“ _ Kakashi _ .”  The closeness of Obito’s voice made Kakashi flinch.  It came out in a hiss, as if Obito’s aim was to scold Kakashi for what was happening here.

 

Rolling his eyes, Kakashi murmured, “Sorry.”

 

“Zetsu,” Obito said.  Kakashi didn’t know where Zetsu had been during all of this, but he was most likely lurking until now.  “Take care of Kakashi. Sasuke,” he said, his tone deepening to one of fierce warning, “If you’re not with us, fine.  But stay out of my way.”

 

“I can’t do that,” Sasuke said.

 

“Ma-Obito,” Zetsu said with a lilt of curiosity to his voice, “when you say take care of Kakashi, you mean finish him, right?  He’s already dying.”

 

“I mean  _ heal _ him!” Obito spat. He sounded annoyed.  “Sasuke-“

 

“Heal him why?” Zetsu persisted, even as Kakashi heard the shuffle of Zetsu’s weight falling by his side.  “We don’t need-“

 

“Just do it!” 

 

Obito’s tone made Kakashi force his tired eyes open.  He sought his old friend, whose mismatched eyes were fixed on Kakashi with what  _ looked _ like concern.  Kakashi’s lips parted as he held Obito’s gaze.  He looked like the old Obito in that instant. He quickly schooled his features, but Kakashi couldn’t shake the memory of what he’d seen.  When Kakashi saw that look, he could hear Obito’s words from back then as if he’d said them again:  _ “Those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum.” _

 

Kakashi’s Sharingan throbbed, and his hand flew to cover it.

 

“Ka...ka...shi…”

 

With a gasp, Kakashi turned to Guy.  His voice was weak and strained. He wasn’t moving from his position sprawled out on the ground.  Kakashi choked and placed his hand over the warm blood seeping from his abdomen. He and Guy were both dying.  Kakashi had nearly been the one to put Guy in this desperate position. He supposed it didn’t matter, though. If Kakashi died right here, if Zetsu refused to heal him, nothing changed.  The world would go on, whether in Obito’s vision or not. Kakashi was nobody, after all.

 

“I’m s-sorry,” Guy said weakly, tears seeping from the corner of his eyes clenched shut and shielded from Kakashi’s view.  “I tried my best to save you, Kakashi. You’re still my eternal Rival, no matter what.”

 

Kakashi huffed, smiling fondly at Guy’s persistence.  “Still rivals, huh? Let’s see which one of us can die the fastest then.”

 

“No,” Zetsu said as rigid hands dug beneath Kakashi’s back and legs, raising him from the ground.  “Obito wants me to heal you. He’s right. You’re still essential to the plan.”

 

“The plan,” Sasuke said with derision, “is going to fail.  Naruto and I will make sure of it.”

 

“Yeah!” Naruto said, too enthusiastically considering that Sasuke had no intentions of working with Naruto’s wishes either.  “Bushier-Brow-Sensei! Are you o..”

 

Naruto’s words were lost with a battle cry and a rush of air.  The last thing Kakashi heard before unconsciousness took him completely was Naruto’s obnoxious voice and the swift movements of clashing Shinobi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it took me some time to get this part right. Taking a step back really made a difference though, so the wait, hopefully, was worth it. I believe the next chapter will come faster now that I’ve gotten past this hurdle. Thank you for reading and reviewing!


	12. Seeing the Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this has made me realize just how messy the war arc was. So, I’ve done my best to alter the timeline and keep accurate with canon background information, but if I’ve mistaken a fact about a character or forgotten my own lore in this somewhere along the way, feel free to point it out to me and I will edit where needed. I’ve gone over this as many times as I can on my own at this point and it has a direction, mostly in this chapter, a swift turn.
> 
> Thank you for reading and all your amazing reviews!

Tsunade arrived to the battle with the other kage just in time to see Sasuke Uchiha raising a hand to _protect_ Naruto from an attack coming from the Akatsuki rogue, Kakuzu.  Kakuzu’s sudden appearance told Tsunade he _wasn’t_ dead as previously thought, though he looked worse for wear and his back was absent of the masks which previously housed his spare hearts.  Everyone but Sasuke looked stunned to see him. Tsunade was equally stunned to see the Shinobi in a green jumpsuit sprawled on the ground, unconscious.  There was no sign of Kakashi Hatake or Zetsu, but one other Akatsuki member stood opposite Naruto, poised for a fight.

 

Tsunade didn’t recognize his face.

 

With Kakuzu deflected to the other side of the field, Sasuke and Naruto both stood with their backs to each other, their eyes set on their respective Akatsuki opponents.  Puzzling out the situation, before more events could avalanche together and leave her further behind the course of events, Tsunade furrowed her brows and dropped to Might Guy’s side.  She concentrated chakra into him to heal the massive wound in his abdomen.

 

Kakuzu, Zetsu, Sasuke, Madara, and Kakashi seemed to be all that remained of their enemies now.  Though clearly having turned his sword against the Akatsuki and removed his red-clouded cloak from his person, Sasuke could no longer be counted among them.  Tsunade wasn’t quick to think the Shinobi Allied Forces had won his allegiance, though.

 

In the quick glance Sasuke casted her way, where she stood with the other kage flanking her sides, she was sure she saw murderous intent.  Kakuzu stood with the other Akatsuki member whose black hair and Sharingan eye could only possibly mean one member - the man raising his hand toward Naruto had to be Madara, unmasked.  However, something wasn’t right.

 

“Madara?” the Raikage muttered aloud, mirroring Tsunade’s train of thought.

 

“No,” the tsuchikage said quickly.  “That is _not_ Madara Uchiha.”

 

“What do you mean?” said the young kazekage.  “It has to be.”

 

“Unless it’s as we believed,” Tsunade said.  “Madara Uchiha _is_ dead.  This man is an imposter.”

 

“But then,” said the mizukage, “who is he?”

 

Naruto raised his hands to cup his mouth and shouted at them, “Some guy named Obito!”

 

“Obito?” Tsunade repeated, knitting her brows.

 

The recently unmasked Akatsuki let his shoulders sag, leveling the five kage with a glare of his mismatched eyes.  “Obito Uchiha.”

 

Tsunade drew in a staggered breath.  Her chest heaved with the realization of who this man was.  Jiraiya had spoken the name fondly in the past. He was one of Minato’s two students who had died an untimely death in the Third Great Ninja War.  Him, a kunoichi, and his sole surviving student...Kakashi Hatake.

 

Tsunade felt her breathing quicken as fury pulsed through her blood.  If Obito Uchiha wasn’t dead, he and Kakashi could’ve been planning to take advantage of the Leaf’s weaknesses all along.  This had been going on for over a decade, right under her predecessors’ noses. They had been playing Sarutobi-Sensei for a fool all this time, with Kakashi inserting himself in a most trusted position in the black ops.  They even betrayed Minato, their fourth Hokage and mentor.

 

Baring her teeth, Tsunade met Obito Uchiha’s mocking glare.  “Where is Kakashi Hatake?”

 

“I killed him,” Sasuke Uchiha said.

 

“He’s not dead, so don’t worry,” Obito said with a chuckle.  “He’ll be back if you want to have a word with him.”

 

Tsunade snarled.  “About how he’s spent years betraying and deceiving the village?”

 

Obito raised a brow and grinned.  “Like a _shinobi_?  Anyway,” he said, turning to face Kakuzu, who stood across the battlefield with a stony glare and arms folded.  “Kakuzu, kill the traitor. I have business to conclude with the nine tails.”

 

Tsunade clenched her fists and shifted into a fighting stance, boosting her chakra to full power within an instant.  “You think we’ll just let you?”

 

“How about,” Sasuke said, grinning over his shoulder at Obito, “I help Kakuzu finish _them_?”

 

When Sasuke Uchiha raised his thumb in Tsunade’s direction, she inhaled sharply.  A chorus of murmurs and cries of outrage sounded behind her, where hundreds of Shinobi were gathered to back up this fight.  The others didn’t know Sasuke had attacked the five kage already, delaying their appearance here on the battlefield. He didn’t appear to be helping the Akatsuki, but he was no friend to the Shinobi Allied Forces either.

 

“Sasuke!” Naruto cried, baring his teeth at the stone-faced Uchiha.  “You want to kill the _kage_ now?”

 

Obito eyed Sasuke.  “Just what is your endgame?”

 

“Once the kage,” Sasuke sneered, making Tsunade feel the venom in his words, “are removed from this world as punishment for the mess they’ve caused, the Shinobi world can start anew.”

 

Naruto growled, shaking his head furiously.  “What are you talking about, Sasuke?”

 

“Kakuzu!” Obito Uchiha yelled, tearing his gaze from Naruto.  “I leave this to you and Sasuke for now. I’ll be right back.”

 

Tsunade felt a heavy weight settle over her shoulders as she watched Obito dematerialize from sight, a weight of something which wasn’t there in the physical sense, but had hung over her since taking up the mantle of Hokage.  With Sasuke’s words, it weighed down on her, bearing down like it never had before. She had taken upon herself a great responsibility to the Leaf Village. Now she felt she had failed to live up to the expectations. If she had been a better hokage, if her predecessors had been better, maybe it never would have come to this.

 

* * *

 

 

Kakashi awoke to a familiar voice, growing annoyed before he even opened his eyes.  Zetsu was prattling on about something before Obito began giving him orders.  He would never get used to hearing Obito give orders, especially not to anyone following them.

 

His annoyance trumped his surprise at still being alive.

 

With a groan, he sat up, announcing with the action his coherency.  He instantly recognized Kamui upon opening his eyes. There was no trace of Sasuke, Guy, Naruto or the others.  Zetsu was stooped over him, Obito’s figure a shadow standing in the distance. It was dark here and silent beyond Zetsu and Obito’s voices.  In another dimension, though, Kakashi knew there were Shinobi thrown into chaos.

 

“Get up, Kakashi,” Obito said.

 

Kakashi stood to his feet.  He felt strong and whole again in a way that made him press a hand to his chest to feel the regenerated skin where there’d been a hole before.  When he met Obito’s gaze, the memories flooded back of the events surrounding his near death. Beyond Obito’s impassive stare, Kakashi saw what he’d seen the last time he looked into Obito’s eyes.  The recall made him straighten with a gasp. He clenched his eyes shut and shook his head, willing the vivid memory away.

 

_A shinobi who abandons his comrade is worse than scum._

 

But when he opened his eyes, it was still there.  Guy bleeding out at his side, _apologizing_ to Kakashi for failing him.  Obito yelling at Zetsu to save Kakashi’s life.  Naruto insisting the ninja world could be saved.  Even Sasuke, with his warped loyalties, refusing the Infinite Tsukuyomi as a way to change the ninja world.

 

Like waking up from a dream, when their goal was so close, Kakashi saw the Infinite Tsukuyomi for the first time for what it really was.  Succeeding at this plan would be a failure. They could destroy more lives, but there was no taking back those who were already lost. Rin could not be saved, not by the Infinite Tsukuyomi.  Not by anything.

 

Kakashi fell to his knees and bowed in around himself, crippled by the pain of the realization.  In an instant, Obito was at his side, drawing a gasp and shaking him by the shoulder.

 

“Kakashi!”

 

“Obito!” Kakashi clutched his hand, digging his fingers into Obito’s hard skin.  “Obito, we can’t.”

 

Obito tried to pull his hand free.  “What?”

 

Kakashi held tighter and drew Obito down close to his face.  “This isn’t-it isn’t going to work.”

 

Obito jerked free, practically snarling.  “You can’t be serious. Now? You’re having doubts _now_?”

 

“I don’t have any doubts,” Kakashi said with a terse shake of his head, rising up to stand face to face with Obito.  “This plan is stupid.  I’ve been stupid to go along with it.   _We’ve_ been stupid.”

 

Obito took a staggering step back.  “You don’t mean that.”

 

Zetsu cocked his head at Obito.  “I guess I should have let him die, hm?”

 

“Not now, Zetsu!” Obito snapped before shooting Kakashi a glare.  “Kakashi! Are you with me or not? I’m not going to waste any more time with scum like you when Rin is waiting.”

 

“But she’s not.  Can’t you see she’s _not_ , Obito?” Kakashi held his hands out to appease Obito, hating the tortured look that crossed his old friend’s face - not the new Obito’s face, but his childhood Obito whose heart was torn out the day Rin died.  “Creating the Infinite Tsukuyomi won’t bring her back. It’ll only kill the rest of the world. Guy. The kages. Minato-sensei’s _son_.”

 

Obito worried his bottom lip with his teeth and averted his gaze as he said sharply, “I killed Minato-Sensei, remember?”

 

“Yeah, I do,” Kakashi snapped, causing Obito to whip his head around and gape at him.  “And now you want to kill his son, all because you want to live in a dream world.”

 

Obito growled.  “You _shared_ that dream with me, you moron!  You’re pathetic! At least I know what I want, Stupid Kakashi!”

 

“What you want,” Kakashi said with clenched fists, not backing down, “is stupid.  It’s meaningless. I've always been a lost cause, but you? You used to have meaning in your life, Obito.  Looking at you now, she’d never respect you like this. She’d pity you. Her and Kushina and Minato-Sensei.  You’ve fallen even further than me.  You should be glad they can’t see how pathetic you’ve become.”

 

Obito’s growl developed from a low rumble into a scream as he lunged at Kakashi with a metal rod extending from his palm, but Kakashi was ready.  He fell back and flipped off his hands, landing on his feet beside Obito. He weaved the signs rapidly. Chidori's chirping spark shot through Obito’s rib cage as Obito turned to shove the metal rod through Kakashi’s side.  It tore through his back with gripping pain. Searing beneath Kakashi’s ribs from front to back, it was not unlike the pain he’d so recently suffered from Sasuke’s Chidori. Kakashi fell into Obito. His hand fell through the hole he’d made in his old friend’s chest.  Obito was his accomplice in all these years of planning for this stupid fantasy of theirs to come true. But they hadn’t really been acting as comrades.

 

They’d failed completely.  They’d left all their comrades behind, including the ones still alive.

 

Kakashi’s knees gave out.  He dragged Obito to the ground with him before withdrawing his trembling hand from the wound he’d created.  Obito panted on his knees across from him, peering with a glare that was unreadable as he reached white fingers into the blood dripping beneath his ribs.

 

“Zetsu,” Obito rasped.  “Heal us. Then I’ll talk some sense into this moron.”

 

Kakashi curled inward, his shoulders hunching around him as his gaze fixed on the floor between his knees.  Blood pooled there, but judging by past experience, it wasn’t a fatal loss. He would survive this. He could even patch it up himself.  He expected Zetsu at his side at any moment to follow Obito’s order. When too much time passed, he shot a glance over his shoulder. Obito gasped.

 

“No.  I think I’ll leave you two here, out of my way, so I can finish this,” Zetsu said before he arrived at Kakashi’s side in the blink of an eye.

 

“Wha-“ Kakashi cut off with a scream when pressure bore on his eye and pain ripped from his socket.

 

“Zetsu!” Obito cried hoarsely.

 

Kakashi’s hand flew to his eye.  His cheek was wet. He tried to blink, but felt nothing on that side.  He could see nothing. He _heard_ it, though, when Obito fell and cried out.  

 

“What?” Kakashi said, struggling to his feet and stumbling. “What happened?”

 

He didn’t have to ask.  As he whirled around, relying on his right eye for visual, he saw the space of Kamui - vacant, with the exception of the spaces he and Obito occupied.  Zetsu stole his eye. He used it to return to the ninja world and the war Kakashi and Obito were missing.

 

“Dammit, Kakashi!” Obito yelled.

 

Kakashi was knocked down by Obito’s weight hurling into him.  He could feel the fury in the attack, but Obito let off quickly.  There was no strength behind it. And that was bad. Obito was their only way out of Kamui now if Zetsu really did plan to leave them.

 

Kakashi shoved Obito. “Get off me.  We need to get out of here and stop Zetsu.”

 

“Aren’t you,” Obito choked out, “hearing me, scum?  I _want_ Zetsu to finish what we started.”

 

“Okay,” Kakashi said on an exhale, “so let him.  We’ll sit here and wait.”

 

“That’s not-“ Obito growled and thrashed.  “We’ll miss it, Kakashi! We won’t see Rin.”

 

“There is no Rin in the Infinite Tsukuyomi,” Kakashi glared at Obito’s pathetic thrashing.  “It’s only the Rin in your head. Close your eyes. You can see her anytime just as easily.”

 

“Don’t-“ Obito growled, pounding a fist into the ground.  “Why do you- Kakashi!  You ruin everything!”

 

Kakashi’s throat clenched as he lowered his head, blood pooling from his eye socket into his palm.  “I know.”

 

“No, you don’t!” Obito cried, a sob breaking through his fury.  “This is the only thing-the only thing I had to cling to! This world is nothing, nothing without her in it.  I have nobody.”

 

“You have me,” Kakashi said, shooting Obito a wry smile.

 

Obito laughed.  He cradled his stomach, coating his arms in blood.  Kakashi laughed with him until Obito started coughing.  

 

“Obito!” Kakashi said, scooting closer.  When Obito pinned him with a glare, Kakashi eyed him.  “You’re not going to kill the only other person in this dimension, are you?”

 

Obito’s glare softened into a roll of his eyes.  “When you put it that way…”

 

Kakashi snorted as he tore the shirt clear of Obito’s gaping chest wound.  “You wouldn’t kill me. You know I’m right.”

 

Obito grunted as Kakashi’s fingers grazed the edges of his wound.  “What makes you say that?”

 

Kakashi’s hands went digging in his pack as he caught Obito’s gaze and held it.  “Those who break the rules are scum. Those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum.  Obito. We still have comrades out there.”

 

Obito’s lips parted, but his expression betrayed him no further.  His eyes remained locked on Kakashi’s until Kakashi tore his gaze away to find the tools he needed to close their wounds.  He’d have to start with his own first. Gauze for his eye. Needle and thread for his abdomen. He couldn’t do anything for Obito in this condition.  He began to wrap his eye.

 

“Who?” Obito said.

 

Kakashi flinched.  “Hm?”

 

“Who are our comrades out there, aside from Zetsu?”

 

“Zetsu’s not our comrade,” Kakashi snorted as he tied off the gauze.  “I don’t think he ever was.”

 

As Kakashi retrieved the needle and thread and began to work with them, Obito eyed him, waiting for the answer he wanted.

 

“Naruto is our comrade.  Guy. All of our classmates from the academy who are still out there.  Tenzō, the poor fool. I don’t even know how he can consider me a friend anymore, but he does.”

 

Obito kept his impassive gaze trained on the needle and thread weaving in and out of Kakashi’s skin as Kakashi gritted his teeth.  The pain was nothing compared to other incidents, but inflicting it on himself was rough.

 

“You have a way of getting what you want out of people.”

 

Kakashi smiled at Obito with his needle pulled taut.  “Does that mean I’m getting what I want out of _you_?  Is Obito seeing sense now?”

 

“More like defeat,” Obito said despondently.  His head hung too low for Kakashi to read his expression while tying off the thread sealing his wound.  “Do you think we’ll ever see Rin again?”

 

Kakashi sighed.  His heart felt heavy, and he wasn’t sure the chakra drain could be wholly to blame.  “Who knows?”

 

Obito slowly shook his head.  “You’re such a worthless friend.”

 

Kakashi smiled, in spite of himself.  Only Obito could insult him and make him feel accepted in one breath.  But he would take it. Obito considered him his friend. There was still some of the old Obito left in him after all.

 

“Here,” Kakashi said, gesturing the needle toward Obito.

 

Obito patted his hand over his chest.  “No need. The cells Madara infused in me will heal this.  It’s happening already.”

 

Kakashi widened his eyes, overlooking the reminder about Madara as he looked at the wound and realized it was smaller than the last time he’d looked.  If Obito could heal without medical assistance, his chakra still had to be in adequate supply to take them out of Kamui.  He hadn’t needed to sit here and listen to Kakashi’s argument, but he’d done it anyway. Kakashi shook his head and packed his supplies away.

 

“So?” Kakashi said, raising a brow.

 

“So what?”

 

Kakashi groaned.  “Are we going to get out of here or...are you warming up to me so much you don’t want to leave?”

 

Obito scoffed and reached for Kakashi’s shoulder.  

 

Kakashi looked at the hand on his shoulder and grinned.  “I understand. You can’t get enough of me.”

 

“Shut up, idiot,” Obito said as the world began to swirl around them, a mix of grays in a visual cyclone until other colors came into existence.

 

Stars lined the sky.  The moon shone bright.  Gasps surrounded them, some as close as inches from Kakashi’s ear, others yards across the barren field.  Hundreds of people standing in line for battle seemed to have their gazes fixed on them. Kakashi and Obito, the both of them now beaten and chakra-depleted, were in a terrible position.


	13. Redemption

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, the final chapter. I expected it to take longer to reach this point when I responded to the latest reviews, but then I realized one chapter more was all this story needed. I plan to tidy up a few points after, looking at the completed story in hindsight, but I’m happy with where it ends and I hope you will be too. Thank you for all the reviews and kudos and if you’re interested, I’m writing a high school AU now with multiships and soon I’ll be posting a fic focused on the ANBU in the period Kakashi and Yamato were part of it.

Obito scanned the crowded battlefield.  He’d never felt so much hatred directed at him, and not because this act on  _ their _ parts was anything new.  He’d never felt this before only because until now, he’d never  _ allowed _ himself to feel it.  

 

It felt raw and exposed, trying to be human again.  Without the illusion of the tsukuyomi’s future, he felt like a security blanket he didn’t know he’d been wearing had slipped off somewhere on his way out of Kamui.  He was now exposed to the chill of the cold world and he didn’t like it. A glance at Kakashi was the only thing that made him fight the instinct to retreat into his altered psyche and safe place.

 

Kakashi crawled back on his feet, raising his hands in a  _ no harm intended _ gesture.  “Where’s Zetsu?”

 

He looked alert, his dark eye furtively scanning the battlefield, but not for long.  While Shinobi moved in around them, the fifth hokage’s pointed nod lead their gazes to the rocks a few yards to the left, where a pile of ash smoldered in black flames.

 

Obito gulped.  He didn’t have to ask  _ how _ .  He recognized the amaterasu, and judging by the widening of his partner’s one eye which was not shielded behind makeshift gauze, Kakashi also knew exactly what must’ve happened.  

 

Zetsu’s cross into this dimension to complete the Infinite Tsukuyomi alone had failed.

 

“Sasuke,” Kakashi said.  

 

“We’ve  _ got _ you,” said a dark-haired boy kneeling with his hands clasped together in a jutsu, eyes narrowed and lips pulling into a smirk.  “Don’t move.”

 

Obito tried to budge and realized the irony in his command as amusement flickered in the brat’s eyes.  He had to be a Nara. Obito flicked his gaze to Kakashi, unable to turn his head and actually  _ see _ whether or not he too was immobilized.

 

“Kakashi!” he hissed.

 

“Where is he?” Kakashi said.  “Where’s Sasuke now?”

 

As Shinobi seized Obito by both arms, the hokage’s expression soured.  “He and Naruto ran off.” She cocked her head. “You’re not fighting your way out of the shadow possession jutsu?”

 

“Together?” Obito asked, shocked to think Sasuke would cooperate with Naruto after everything that had happened.

 

Kakashi answered Tsunade with a shrug.  “What’s the point? We know there’s no getting out of it.”

 

“Kakashi!” Guy cried, his voice echoing from a distance before a green figure parted the crowd and made its way to the front line.

 

“Guy-Sensei,” a Hyuuga at his back said while a student dressed uncannily similar to Guy seized Guy by the shoulders, “there’s no telling what they’re up to now.  You can’t go near them.”

 

“ _ Up _ to?” Guy said with a scowl.

 

“Neji’s right, Guy-Sensei,” the kunoichi at his other side said.

 

“Listen to your students, Guy,” said Tsunade as she met Obito’s gaze.  “I’ll hear what they have to say.”

 

“Well, Obito,” Kakashi drawled softly.  “They want to know what we’re up to. I suppose now that Zetsu’s dead, we could call it...a surrender.”

 

“Hah!” Obito spat.  “ _ You _ surrender.  I - I -“ 

 

He faltered.  If Kakashi was right about his dream, if the Infinite Tsukuyomi really couldn’t come to pass and change the ninja world, Obito had no more reason to fight. That didn’t change the fact that the Shinobi who allied against him and the Akatsuki would feel reparations were in order for the lives they’d lost.  Obito understood that pain too well. He felt his face burn as he ground his teeth. Dammit, Kakashi was right. This couldn’t be described as anything  _ but _ a surrender.

 

“You what?” Kakashi said.  

 

He smiled the moment Obito met his gaze, telling Obito with that smug look that he knew he was right.  If there was any moment Obito wanted the shadow possession jutsu to release him, it was right then. When he tried to lunge for Kakashi, all he could do was growl and feel the stilling restraint of the jutsu.

 

“Surrender?” the mizukage snorted, swinging her red hair from her eyes as she stepped forward from the crowd.

 

“It’s some sort of trick!” the raikage cried, pointing a vehement finger at Obito.  “I  _ know _ it.”

 

Kakashi sighed, and Obito could see now, was relaxed in the restraining grasp of several muscular Shinobi.  He turned his eyes to Obito and Obito grimaced. That lazy bastard was going to leave the explaining to him.  He didn’t  _ want _ to explain himself to these judgmental onlookers.  He pursed his lips tight.

 

“Is it true?” Guy’s voice trembled with rising emotion.  “Kakashi! Obito! You  _ have _ decided to seize the springtime of your youth!  I knew you couldn’t go through with this. Not  _ my _ eternal rival!”

 

“Guy,” Kakashi said with a roll of his eye, “I  _ was _ going to.”

 

“But?”

 

Obito blinked at the man intruding on Kakashi and Guy’s conversation, a brown-haired Shinobi with a happuri-style forehead protector.  The man’s wide brown eyes were fixed on Kakashi as he stepped to the fifth Hokage’s side.

 

“But,” Kakashi said, “I remembered some of my comrades were still alive.  I couldn’t abandon them. I...won’t, Tenzo.”

 

The Shinobi propped his hands on his hips, fighting a smile and failing.  “Late as ever, Senpai.”

 

“Well,” Kakashi said, his voice amused, “I might’ve gotten lost on the path of life.”

 

“Cats,” Obito recalled.  “That’s a much better excuse.”

 

Kakashi cocked his head at Obito.  “And I had to set  _ this _ idiot straight.”

 

“This idiot?” Obito scoffed, kicking his feet when again he couldn’t lunge at Kakashi.  “Stupid Kakashi! I  _ ran _ the Akatsuki.  You couldn’t even recognize your own childhood teammate.”

 

“Who was  _ dead _ to my knowledge, putting on a fake persona, covered head to toe-“

 

“Okay, Okay!” Obito hissed.  “Dammit, just shut up.” He snapped the Hokage a glare.  “So what are you going to do with us?”

 

He was losing his patience with standing here, restrained under the wary gazes of hundreds of Shinobi.  If there was punishment in store, he was ready to take it and get it over with. There was nothing these Shinobi could do to him worse than he’d already suffered anyway.  Nothing could top the pain of losing Rin. Realizing he could never see her again felt like losing her a second time.

 

Tsunade exchanged glances with the other Kage, who gathered around, all apparently capable on their feet in spite of the condition in which Obito had last seen them.  Seeing no trace of Kakuzu, and that Sasuke had abandoned the war for some separate matter he had to address with the nine tails jinchuriki, Obito had to assume he and Kakashi were all that was left of the Akatsuki now.  

 

And Kakashi’s Sharingan was destroyed with Zetsu, the traitor.  Obito closed his eyes and shook his head. Zetsu had been using him all along, which meant he had to have been using  _ Madara _ for years.  Zetsu had some ulterior motive he never revealed to them, or he never would’ve gone to such length as leaving Obito to die in Kamui so he could fulfill their plan alone.  

 

Obito was glad he was dead.

 

“I think we should detain them,” Tsunade said slowly, reading the reactions of the other kage.  “And then, I’d like to see what Naruto Uzumaki has to say.”

 

“Yes,” the Kazakage said with a slow nod.  “I think you’re right.”

 

“Naruto Uzumaki?” The tsuchikage grunted and sneered at the Hokage.  “What could that boy have to say about this?”

 

“I trust his judgment,” the fifth Hokage snapped.  “And these men may be all that’s left of the Akatsuki, but they were once Leaf Shinobi.  They were students of the fourth hokage- Naruto’s father. He might want a chance to speak to them.  And if anyone should decide what leniency or punishment they deserve, I think it’s him.”

 

“But...Sasuke, Lady Tsunade,” said the boy with the bowl cut still standing by Guy’s side.

 

“Ah,” Tsunade said as she lowered her head.  “Who has gone to find Naruto? We need to make sure they’re still alive.”

 

Kakashi cocked his head.  “They left to  _ fight _ ?”

 

Tsunade scoffed.  “Boys.”

 

Obito grumbled under his breath as Shinobi gathered around the Hokage to answer her questions and commands.  Sasuke was stupid to confront the jinchuriki alone. With the nine tails on his side, Naruto had a store of chakra far beyond that of which an Uchiha could boast.  With Orochimaru’s influence, Sasuke may have become stronger, but if Obito remembered Kushina’s strength right, Naruto was far more powerful. Obito growled at himself as he realized he understood exactly why Sasuke stood against him though, in spite of his odds.  He shot a glance at Kakashi and let out a sigh. If they were to live, to stop being nobodies somehow, Obito didn’t see any way to play nice with Kakashi. He was his only friend. He would also always be his rival.

 

* * *

 

Scoffing had become as natural as breathing in the past hour.  Sasuke didn’t know what was more annoying - the straight jacket and seal binding him, the memory of Naruto’s continuous smile after Sasuke had torn his arm off and nearly beaten him to death, having  _ his _ arm torn off, or sitting across from these two losers.  He eyed the metal bars lining their cell, watching another masked ANBU pass, waiting for it to be  _ anyone _ but an ANBU outside this cell.  He needed someone to shut these two up.

 

“Obito,  _ enough _ ,” Kakashi groaned.

 

Or at least, someone to make Obito listen to Kakashi.

 

“Maybe it isn’t  _ all _ your fault,” Obito said, his eyes shifting to Sasuke.  Sasuke scoffed. Again. “But I guess it could be worse.  We could’ve ended up like those two.”

 

As Obito raised his chin in Sasuke’s direction, over the bindings of his own straight jacket, Sasuke raised a brow.  He had to be joking. There was  _ no way _ he thought he and Kakashi, the most backward thinking pair of Shinobi Sasuke had ever encountered, were better off than him and Naruto.  

 

“I don’t know,” Kakashi drawled, his lazy one-eyed gaze on Sasuke more calculating than he let on, “maybe we could’ve used a good fight.  Could have spared us a lot of trouble.”

 

“And an arm,” Obito snorted.  “I’ve given up enough body parts for you.”

 

Kakashi pinned Obito with a one-eyed glare.  “And that sacrifice is serving me so well now.”

 

“Dammit,” Sasuke growled, having heard enough.  “Do you two ever shut up?”

 

“Usually,” Kakashi said, his eye creasing as he turned back to Sasuke, “I  _ could _ shut Obito up, but I can’t help finding your frustration amusing.”

 

“ _ You _ can’t shut me up!” Obito balked and turned his eyes to Sasuke with a chuckle.  “At least you’re annoying someone else for once.”

 

“You two are evil,” Sasuke said.

 

Kakashi shrugged.  “So...would you agree with Sasuke’s assessment, Lady Tsunade?  Or, are you willing to release us?”

 

Obito cocked his head at the cell bars.  

 

Sasuke turned his eyes to the movement beyond them.  “Finally.”

 

The Hokage stood with her hands clasped in front of her, an impassive glare on her face.  Her frowning brunette assistant stood beside her, holding a pig who seemed to peer into their cell.  The hokage’s brown eyes locked on Kakashi, then moved to Obito before resting on Sasuke.

 

“You really did a number on Naruto,” she said, sounding almost impressed if she wasn’t clearly angry about the incident that was none of her business.  “But there’s no need to worry. We’ve found a way to cultivate my grandfather’s cells to rebuild his arm.”

 

Sasuke huffed.  The pause the Hokage allowed seemed to be an invitation for Sasuke to request the same special treatment, but he would request nothing from her.

 

He cocked his head.  “And?”

 

The Hokage drew a deep breath.  “He wants to talk to you. All of you.  Naruto!”

 

Naruto’s blonde head of hair appeared at the edge of the bars.  His bright smile preceded him as he walked in, seemingly lighting the dismal prison environment.  Sasuke didn’t like seeing his smile turn downward when he turned his eyes on them. Fortunately, it didn’t last long.  When Naruto’s bright blue eyes roamed over them, the smile returned. He locked his gaze with Sasuke and lingered.

 

At length, he looked to Obito and Kakashi.  “Hi.”

 

“Yo,” Kakashi said while Obito nodded.

 

“I, uh-“ Naruto set his sole remaining hand in his pocket and shrugged.  “I understand you used to be on a team together lead by the Fourth Hokage.  My father.”

 

Kakashi’s eye creased in a smile.  “Not a secret anymore, hm?”

 

“So what?” Obito spat.  “Are you going to lecture us now for betraying our Sensei?  Do you expect to hear old stories from us about him? If you think we’re here to recount our childhood, that’s a good joke.”

 

Tsunade crossed her arms.  “You’re here to do what we ask of you!”

 

“It’s okay, Grandma,” Naruto said as he smiled at Obito.  “I think they get it now. They understand that the ninja world can be saved.  Don’t you?”

 

Kakashi shrugged while Obito exchanged a glance with him.

 

“That’s yet to be seen,” Kakashi said.

 

“Then why’d you change your mind?” Naruto cried in an outburst of confusion.

 

Obito rolled his eyes.  “It was either take our chances with the real world, or give in to the definite false reality of the Tsukuyomi, which we realized wouldn’t...work as we planned.  Besides, you opened our eyes to a new sort of hope. I just hope you’re right, kid.”

 

“Speaking of eyes,” Tsunade said to Obito.  “You know we can’t let you wander freely with that Rinnegan, not after what you’ve done.”

 

Obito blinked.  “Wander freely?”

 

“What would you do,” Tsunade said, addressing all three in the cell, “if we set you free?”

 

Sasuke exchanged glances with the other two men imprisoned with him.  They’d rambled on about their dead teammate, their failed dream, their dismal outlook on the Shinobi world.  They’d mocked and insulted each other, not unlike the way Naruto did with him. Sasuke saw in them a potential future for himself, one he knew now he never wanted to realize.

 

“I know one thing,” he said.  “If you step down as hokage and let Naruto run things here, I’m fine to leave the Hidden Leaf be.  But I can’t be here. I won’t let this world sour me and turn me into  _ them _ .”

 

Kakashi raised a brow at Sasuke’s pointed glare while Obito snorted.  

 

“Sasuke,” Naruto said.  “You can’t mean that. We finally got you back here.”

 

Sasuke smirked at his friend.  “You could always leave me right where I am.”

 

Obito scoffed.  “Like you wouldn’t get out.”

 

“But you won’t,” Sasuke continued, ignoring Obito.  “So yes, I’m serious. I’m leaving. Alone.”

 

“That’s best, I think,” Tsunade said.  “To be honest, Naruto’s praise of you is the only reason I’ve agreed to release you after all the crimes you’ve committed against the Shinobi world.”

 

“And why exactly,” Kakashi said with a slight incline of his chin in the hokage’s direction, “are you releasing  _ us _ ?”

 

“Who says I’m releasing you?”

 

“You’ve already implied it,” Kakashi said.

 

“When you suggested you’d take my Rinnegan,” Obito added.

 

Tsunade scoffed.  “If it wasn’t for your change of heart, the both of you could have made the Infinite Tsukuyomi our only reality.  I don’t trust you - either of you - but if you’re willing to give this world a chance-“

 

“Then we’re willing to give you a chance!” Naruto said, clenching his fist.  “Right, Granny?”

 

Sasuke watched Kakashi’s and Obito’s expressions light with the dawning realization of acceptance.  It was painfully familiar. Naruto did that to people. He could turn their entire concept of reality upside down with his bright optimism and unending determination.  It was as endearing as it was infuriating. 

 

“A chance,” Kakashi said quietly, lowering his eye to the ground.  “I guess that’s more than we can ask for.”

 

“No, it’s not,” Obito said.  “Redemption. That’s what I’m going to work toward.  And  _ you _ better not give up either, Kakashi!  I’ll roam this entire world in search of it if I have to.”

 

“With me?”

 

“No, not with you!” Obito grimaced.  “Damn, I’ll  _ never _ find redemption with you by my side.”

 

“Good.”  Kakashi’s eye creased as he smiled behind the mask.  “Because you’ll only slow me down.”

 

“Bastard!” Obito shot to his feet.  “Why do you always-“

 

“Open the cell,” Sasuke said, turning pleading eyes to their bemused audience.  “Now.”

 

Sasuke scowled as Tsunade assumed a satisfied grin and nodded to the guard.  Naruto laughed and launched toward the opening latch, ready to smother Sasuke with an embrace once the bars no longer separated them.  Sasuke had to get out of the Hidden Leaf right away, away from these people. Redemption wasn’t a bad idea, but he wouldn’t tell Obito that.  He certainly wouldn’t tell Kakashi where he was going. 

 

They each, individually and  _ separately _ , would wander the ninja world in hopes of finding better paths, and when they eventually met again, with Naruto now the hero who could change the ninja world, Sasuke expected they should have something to show for it.  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Updates shouldn’t take long and I expect this story to be somewhere between 30k-50k words 
> 
> Twitter: @maiikawriter


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